ANGOLA & FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The No. 9-ranked Indiana Tech men's volleyball team defeated regional foe Trine University in a pair of matches last week as part of the Crossroads Crossover, defeating the Thunder in four sets (25-18, 22-25, 25-15, 25-17) Thursday night inside Hershey Hall while sweeping the Thunder (25-18, 28-26, 25-16) Friday night inside the Schaefer Center.
Thursday Recap
Dante Siracusa led the offense with 12 kills and a .579 hitting percentage while
Daynte Stewart had 11 kills to go along with three digs, two service aces and two blocks.
Brandon Jones dished out 39 assists while recording 10 digs for his first double-double of the season and adding two blocks.
Joey Hermes had 14 digs.
Tech built a steady lead at 9-5, only to see the Thunder respond with a 3-0 run to cut the deficit to a single point. The Warriors held strong though and never let the lead go before grabbing control of the set with a 6-2 run to make it a 17-13 advantage. Trine never got within four points again as the Warriors took the opening set. The hosts jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the second as the Warriors played catch up from the opening serve. Trine pushed its lead to 23-15 following a 5-1 run, but Tech responded with a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to 23-20. The visitors fought off two set points but a block from Matt Stillman knotted the match up at 1-1.
The Warrior offense was cooking in the third as they hit a blistering .786 with 12 kills and just one attached error. The two rivals were even through the first 25 serves, but a 4-0 run from Tech put them ahead 17-12. Following back-to-back service errors by both teams, the Warriors rattled off seven straight points to make it a 24-13 game and take the 2-1 lead. Tech took the first three points of the fourth set as part of a 7-2 run and never looked back as they raced out to an 11-3 lead. Trine came storming back with a 4-0 run to cut the deficit to 12-9, but it never got any closer as the Warriors closed the door on the comeback.
Friday Recap
Stewart was the top attacker for the Warriors with 10 kills and a .350 hitting percentage to go along with two assists, four blocks and two digs.
Raekwon Rogers had eight kills, a .778 hitting percentage and two blocks. Jones dished out 30 assists while adding seven digs, three kills and two service aces while Hermes had nine digs.
A back-and-forth affair to start the match was ended by a 3-0 run by the Warriors with kills from Rogers,
Mason Milan and Stewart to make it a 9-6 game. A 4-0 spurt extended the lead to 14-9 while a 6-1 run put the game out of reach at 20-11.
The Thunder got out to a 13-10 lead in the second before pushing it to 19-14. A 5-1 spurt from the Warriors brought them within a point, but the visitors held strong for five more serves. Trialing 23-21, the Warriors took advantage of a service error to get the serve back and tied it up with a double block from
Jon Fonda and Milan. A Warrior error gave Trine set point, but the Warriors battled back to go up 25-24, but needed five more serves to put the Thunder away for the 2-0 lead.
The two teams continued to trade momentum and points early on in the third set, with the Thunder holding a 10-9 lead. A series of Trine errors propelled the Warriors to an 8-1 run to go up 17-11 and they never let the lead dip under four points again while the closed out the match with a 4-0 run.
Tech (4-0) returns to action Tuesday as they battle Olivet Nazarene University and Trinity Christian College in the ONU Quad at 2 and 4 p.m. ET from McHie Arena.
