ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University men's volleyball team traveled to New York for a tri-match at Hilbert College on Saturday afternoon and came away with a pair of three-set victories. The first came over State University of New York Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly) and the second against the host Hawks of Hilbert. Trine is now 6-4 on the season while SUNY Poly is 4-6 and Hilbert 3-6.
TRINE vs SUNY POLY RECAP:
The teams played even throughout the first set, but the Wildcats of SUNY Poly claimed a 21-18 lead in the closing stages of the set. The Thunder would take advantage of three errors by SUNY Poly as well as kills by Ted Hofmeister and Kevin Boncaro for a 5-0 scoring run to go back in front, 23-21. Matt Stillman closed the first with a kill in his return to play since suffering an early season injury, 25-23. Trine had their best hitting set of the match in the first with 12 kills and three errors.
The second set would be the most lopsided at 25-16 in favor of the Thunder. Boncaro had a string of four consecutive points in the early goings to increase the team's lead to 6-3 and Karl Both clinched the set win with a kill. The defense held SUNY Poly to just six kills in the second.
The Wildcats took a 13-10 lead with their backs against the wall, but a serving run by Johnson-Kuhao Ho'okano-Pelekai put Trine in front by three at 16-13. The Thunder would not trail again in the set as Boncaro put the match to bed with a kill, 25-23. A match-high 15 kills for Trine helped them to keep the match short.
Boncaro and Hofmeister had 13 and 11 kills, respectively and Nick Woolley dished out 35 assists. Hunter Haas had 16 digs from the back row. The Thunder hit .211 as a team.
TRINE vs HILBERT RECAP:
Trine was rolling from start to finish against the Hilbert Hawks. The team would only need 19 total attacks to put away their opponents 25-12 in the first set. Hilbert had ten errors and hit negative to further widen the gap. The first seven points all went to the visitors and a 6-0 run late in the set came solely off of Hawk miscues.
The second set was even more lopsided as Trine hit .600 with 13 kills and just one error on 20 attacks. The final score read 25-9 with aces by Woolley, Hofmeister, Jacob Seier, Boncaro and Seth McDonald. An 8-0 run mid-set for the Thunder made the score 11-4 and they would not look back from there.
The Hawks fought until the bitter end with a third set that featured multiple lead changes. Trine would ultimately come away with the victory 25-21, but Hilbert had the lead at 12-10 as well as 21-20 before the Thunder rattled off five in a row and escape with the three-set win.
Trine shared the wealth offensively with Boncaro leading the way with only eight kills. The Thunder hit .324 as a team, their second-highest mark of the year. The team had a season-low seven errors as well. Woolley had 24 assists and Haas led the team with 10 digs.
UP NEXT:
Next weekend, the road trip continues on Friday, February 16 at Thiel College. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.
