BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Trine University Men's Volleyball team picked up two more wins in Illinois this afternoon to get on the right side of .500. The Thunder are now 5-4 and are riding a five game win streak. Trine took down Illinois Tech (0-5) in five sets and then swept hosts Illinois Wesleyan (7-2).
 
Kevin Boncaro sent home 37 kills on the day and Ryan McDonald handed out 70 assists. Trine took down Illinois Tech 25-22, 18-25, 25-14, 14-25, and 15-10 and swept the Titans 30-28, 25-21, and 25-17.
 
Trine rallied back from an 11-6 deficit behind a .306 hitting percentage. Johnson-Kuhao Ho'okano-Pelekai led a 5-0 run to take a 17-15 lead with three kills. Karl Both took the set with a service ace. The Scarlet Hawks led the latter half of set two to take a 25-18 victory. Boncaro added four kills.
 
Set three was a set of runs. Trine raced out to a 6-1 lead but IIT battled back to tie it at 11. Trine's defense would force a flurry of Scarlet Hawk errors and Boncaro posted five kills as the Thunder buried the Hawks 25-14.
 
Illinois Tech would return the favor in set four, taking a 2-1 lead and pulling away quickly for an identical 25-14 win. The Thunder responded in set five with eight kills and a .421 hitting percentage. Four different Thunder hitters registered a kill and Trine took the five set win.
 
Trine then took on hosts Illinois Wesleyan. The Thunder swept the Titans behind a .321 match hitting percentage. Trine posted 36 kills to just 10 errors and added 7 service aces while allowing none. Boncaro hit .483 and Carter Steffgen was an efficient .455.
 
Set one was a marathon thriller. The set was close throughout, but Trine survived three Titan set points to take the set. Boncaro had four kills and Steffgen added three.
 
Trine quickly took a 6-1 lead in set two with two aces from Jaren Reyes. IWU would rally to tie it at 21 but it was all Thunder from there, Trine scored the final four points and took set two 25-21.
 
Set three was again hotly contested. The final set featured eight ties and a pair of lead changes. IWU cut the Thunder lead to 18-17 but Trine scored the last seven points to put away the Titans.
 
The Thunder return to Hershey Hall on Tuesday night for a game against Bethel (IN) at 7:00 p.m.