FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Indiana Tech men's volleyball team defeated NCAA Division III foe and regional rival Trine University, 3-1 (22-25, 25-14, 25-22, 25-16), Wednesday evening in nonconference action inside the Schaefer Center. The win was the programs first since 1973 and the first career victory on the men's side for head coach Kyle Shondell.
 
Daynte Stewart had a team-high nine kills and four services aces while recording seven digs and three blocks. Dante Siracusa had eight kills and hit .429 while notching nine total blocks. Chandler Davis dished out 29 assists with four service aces while Jason Miller had nine digs.
 
The match started off on the right foot for the Warriors as Cameron Ternent recorded a kill to put the hosts up 1-0 before the two sides traded off the next five points. Trine got ahead 5-3 with a 3-0 run, but Tech answered back with back-to-back double blocks to knot the game up at 7-7. The Thunder were undeterred though, coming back with a 9-4 spurt to go back up 16-12 and causing the Orange and Black to take a timeout. The visitors pushed their advantage up to 22-17, but the Warriors battled back to make it a 24-22 game, but it would not enough as Trine took the first set 25-22 to take the 1-0 lead.
 
Tech got off to a fast start in the second with a 5-0 that featured two service aces from Davis and two kills from Siracusa. Trine countered right back with a 4-0 run, but the Warriors responded with an 11-2 run that featured a 6-0 spurt at the end of the run to make it a 16-6 lead. The Orange and Black continued to push their lead and held it in double digits for all but eight serves over the remainder of the set as Tech took the second 25-14 to knot the match up at 1-1 and record the programs first set win in the modern era.
 
The Warriors used another fast start in the third, this time utilizing a 5-1 run following intermission. The Thunder got back on track though with an 8-2 run to go up 8-7, but they would only be ahead for one more serve as Tech got back on track with a 7-1 run to make it a 15-10 game. The hosts would not take the set easily though, as Trine went on an 11-5 run to close the gap to 23-22. A kill from Mason Milan and a block from Chase Christiansen and Ternent closed out the set though in favor of Tech as they went up 2-1.
 
Davis served up the first six points of the fourth set as the Orange and Black won all of them to grab the momentum to begin the fourth set. Tech pushed its lead up to 10-1 and while the Thunder closed the gap to within eight points, they never threatened the Warriors who took the fourth set 25-16 to seal the 3-1 win.
 
Tech (1-1) returns to action on Friday as they travel to Lebanon, Tennessee for the Phoenix Classic, hosted by Cumberland University, where they will take on Missouri Valley College, Cumberland, Reinhardt University and Judson University. First serve is set for 12 p.m. ET Friday against Missouri Valley from Dallas Floyd Phoenix Arena while Tech will take on the hosts at 4 p.m. ET.