ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Trine University men's volleyball team split a pair of games at this afternoon's Nazareth University Invitational. Trine defeated the host Golden Flyers, exacting their revenge on their loss from two weeks ago, and fell to Endicott in five sets.
John Mikrut punched 36 kills on the day;
Bryce Tupaz tallied 86 assists and
Karl Both added seven blocks. Trine took the match from Nazareth in straight sets, 25-23, 25-17, 30-28, after suffering a four-set loss just two weeks ago. Endicott took set five 25-20, 26-28, 25-17, 18-25, 14-16.
Trine registered 45 kills in the first match, hitting .400 in set two and notching 19 in set three. Mikrut led with 16 and Both added 11 and hit .474. Mikrut hit .355 and
Zach Mikrut notched nine kills in 16 attempts with an error to hit .500.
Trine scored seven of their first ten in set one by swing but trailed 16-10. Trine began chipping away but eventually trailed 23-20,
John Mikrut got hot and sent four of Trine's last five points home with a spike to steal the first set.
The offense rolled early again in set two, scoring eight of 10 by swing but again trailed, this time 12-10. The Thunder would quickly flip the script using a 10-1 run to put the Golden Flyers away early. Both spiked a pair and
Zach Mikrut added an ace and a kill.
The Thunder dug themselves out of one final hole in the final set, rallying from a 17-14 deficit to take a 20-19 lead. Trine lead 25-24 and the teams would swap points in pairs before the Thunder got three in a row to turn a 28-27 deficit to a 30-28 win to sweep the hosts.
John Mikrut had 19 kills in the five setter against the Gulls. Trine limited Endicott to .176 hitting but the Gulls posted 15 blocks to equalize the Thunder defense.
Trine trailed just once in set one, turning a 4-3 deficit to a 16-8 lead behind two kills from
Johnson-Kuhao Ho'okano-Pelekai and two aces from
John Mikrut.
Endicott won a barn burner in set two 28-26, leading most of the way, Trine kept pace with 11 kills. The Thunder battled back to take a 25-24 lead after trailing 21-17. Both and
Zach Mikrut sparked the run but the Gulls would score four of the next five to take the set.
The teams traded blows in sets three and four, each winning convincingly. Trine 25-17 in set three and Endicott 25-18 in set four to set up the decisive fifth set.
Endicott looked set to deliver a knockout blow, handily taking a 12-7 lead. Trine did not go quietly, racing back to a 14-13 lead thanks to a trio of Gull errors and kills and a block from
John Mikrut and Both. The Gulls would take the final three points to win the set.
