MILWAUKEE – The Trine University Men's Volleyball team picked up two three set victories this evening at the Lakeland Tri-Match. They opened with a sweep of Maranatha Baptist before taking care of the hosts in straight sets as well. Trine is now 2-4, MBU is 0-2, and Lakeland is 2-3.
 
The Thunder won the first match handily, dropping Maranatha 25-6, 25-17, and 25-15, Ryan Ford led with seven kills and Xander Ikusz had 12 assists. Ryan McDonald, Grayson Barnhill, and Luke Trotter each had a pair of aces. Trine scored the first 17 points before allowing the Bearcats to score. Johnson-Kuhao Ho'okano-Pelekai led the way with three kills. Trotter notched both of his aces in set two as Trine used a 14-4 advantage to hold off MBU in set two. MBU led 3-2 early in the third set, from there Trine would use a 12-3 run. Ford registered all seven of his kills in set three and hit a remarkable .857.
 
The match with the Muskies was much tighter, Trine took the match 31-29, 25-21, and 25-19. Kevin Boncaro led the way with 14 kills and Ryan McDonald dished out 29 assists. Bryan Maida anchored the defense with 17 digs and Seth McDonald added 4 block. Neither team led by more than five and Trine survived four Muskie set points to take set one. No extra points were needed in sets two and three. Trine grabbed an 8-4 lead in set three with help from three Ho'okano-Pelekai kills. Boncaro added three more and Seth McDonald had a block. Trine maintained their advantage throughout the set for the win. Trine again took an early lead in set three. The Thunder stretched it to 21-13 late in the set, Lakeland cut it 23-18 but a service error would give Trine the match win.
 
Trine heads to Wisconsin Lutheran for a single game tomorrow before returning to Angola. That match is set to begin at 11:00 a.m.