BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Trine University men's volleyball team fell in a pair of matches this afternoon. Trine (3-4) fell in game one to 10^th ranked Aurora in straight sets and to hosts Illinois Wesleyan in four sets.
 
Johnson-Kuhao Ho'okano-Pelekai led the Thunder with 15 kills on the day, Karl Both and John Mikrut had 13 each. Xander Ikusz dished out 51 assists.
 
The nationally-ranked Spartans were too much for Trine in game one, sweeping the Thunder 25-12, 25-17, 25-13 and hit .405. The Thunder fell behind in set one 10-3 before righting the ship and swapping points with the Spartans. Aurora broke away with a 6-0 run to claim the set.
 
Ho'okano-Pelekai had four kills in set two but the Spartans staved off three set points from the Thunder for the win.
 
Trine hung around early in set three and pulled within four before Aurora posted a 7-0 run to clinch the sweep.
 
The Thunder fared better against the host Titans, claiming set two before falling 21-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-20. The offense found its stride scoring 54 points.
 
Trine broke a stalemate in set one with a 5-0 run to take a 16-12 lead. Ho'okano-Pelekai sparked the run with a pair of aces and John and Zach Mikrut each added a kill. IWU responded with 10 of the next 13 points to take the set.
 
Trine fell behind 7-3 in set one but clawed back to trail 22-19. Karl Both notched four consecutive kills and John Mikrut added a trio to keep Trine close. The Thunder then closed out the set with six consecutive points punctuated by a swing from Ho'okano-Pelekai.
 
IWU took a large lead in set three and kept the Thunder at bay to push Trine to the brink in set four. Trine battled back in set four with points from each Mikrut brother and an ace and kill from Ho'okano-Pelekai to lead 15-14. The Titans were not up for a fifth set and went on a 7-1 run to take control and win the match.
 
The Thunder will head to the Finger Lakes Region next weekend to compete in the Hobart Invitational on Saturday, January 31^st and Sunday, February 1^st.