ANGOLA, IND. -- The Trine University men's volleyball team split a pair of Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League matches against Mount St. Joseph University, winning the first match, 3-2, but falling in the second by a final of 3-0 at Hershey Hall.
Freshman Matt Stillman (Mokena, Ill./Lincoln Way Central) led Trine in kills in the first match with 13 and was followed by sophomore Parker Beale (Noblesville, Ind./Fishers) with 10 kills. Senior Hunter Monday (Beech Grove, Ind./Lutheran) had a match-high 50 assists to go along with eight digs and two total blocks (one solo and one assist).
Freshman Hunter Haas (Cincinnati, Ohio/Bishop Mueller) led all players in digs with 24, followed by Beale with 11 digs. Freshman Ted Hofmesiter (Powell, Ohio./Saint Charles) and junior Dan Boren (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) both finished with a team-high three blocks. Hofmesiter tallied two solo blocks and an assist, while Boren had one solo block and two assists).
The two teams traded sets throughout the match, but it was Trine who'd come out on top by the scores of 25-21, 18-25, 27-25, 23-25 and 15-12. After each team claimed a set victory to start the match, Mount St. Joseph (1-1, 1-1 MCVL) led by as many as five points in set number three and would later have two chances with set point that included a 24-22 margin. Back-to-back errors by the Lions, followed by a kill from Stillman, swum momentum in Trine's (5-1, 5-1 MCVL) favor by giving the Thunder a set point opportunity with a 25-24 lead. Following a timeout by MSJ, the Lions evened the score at 25-25, but then Stillman tallied consecutive kills to seal the win for Trine and give the Thunder a 2-1 match advantage.
The difference in the fourth set came with Trine leading by five points, 16-11, when MSJ rattled off seven straight scores to move ahead, 18-16. The Thunder rallied to even the set and the two teams battled back-and-forth down the stretch with neither squad leading by more than a pair of points. After several lead changes and ties, the score was even at 23-23 when the Lions got the final two points they needed off of a pair of Trine attack errors to win the set, 25-23, and even the match at 2-2, forcing a deciding fifth game.
In the fifth set, Trine jumped out to a 6-2 margin, highlighted by kills by Beale and Stillman, in addition to an ace by freshman Nate Unsicker (Woodrige, Ill./Downers Grove South). MSJ was able to hang around however, and kept Trine from pulling away, battling to within a point, 12-11. Kills by junior Eric Santiago-Garcia (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Glen Ridge) and Stillman gave the Thunder a three-point edge, 14-11, to set up match point. The Lions recorded a kill on the next exchange before another kill by Santiago-Garcia clinched the Trine victory, winning the set, 15-12, and the overall match by a final of 3-2.
In the second match, the two teams played a heavily contested first set that saw Trine jump out to a 7-3 lead before a 7-2 scoring run by MSJ, put the Lions ahead by a point, 10-9. Trine later regained a two-point advantage multiple times, but MSJ rallied again as the two teams were caught in a 21-21 tie late. MSJ then got some breathing room with three straight points, but back-to-back kills from freshman Sam Bhandal (Marysville, Wash./Marysville) and Stillman pulled the Thunder to within one, 24-23. Coming out of a timeout, the Lions got the game-winning point on the next rally off of a Trine error to take the set (25-23) and a 1-0 match lead.
Trine and MSJ played what turned out to be a marathon set in game two which was ultimately won by the Lions, 29-27. Trine came back from being down as many as four points early to having a two-point lead late by a score of 24-22. MSJ denied two set points by Trine to even the game at 24-24 and then the seesaw battle continued until MSJ got the victory on consecutive kills with the score even at 27-27 to capture the victory and take a 2-0 set lead.
The third set saw Trine have a 5-3 lead, but MSJ then outscored the Thunder, 14-8, to lead by four points, 17-13. Trine soon pulled to within two points on a pair of kills by Stillman, but that's as close as the Thunder got as the Lions slowly began to pull away and found themselves ahead by as many as seven points, 23-16. The Thunder made a late rally and narrowed the gap to three points late when MSJ scored the final point it needed to claim a 25-21 set win and the match victory by a final of 3-0.
Trine had two players in double figures in kills with Beale tallying a team-high 12 kills and Stillman was second with 10 kills. Monday again set up the offense with a team-best 35 assists.
Defensively, Haas led all players in digs with 12, followed by Beale with eight and sophomore Dominic Saenz (Wall Twp., N.J./Wall) added seven digs. Stillman led the Thunder at the net with three total blocks (all assists).
Trine will resume its schedule next Saturday, Feb. 20 when the Thunder travel to St. Louis, Mo. to take on Fontbonne University in a pair of MCVL matches. The first match is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. (EST).
