BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – The No. 9-ranked Indiana Tech men's volleyball teams took down a pair of nonconference foes Tuesday afternoon at the ONU Quad, defeating host Olivet Nazarene University 3-0 (26-24, 25-18, 25-17) while defeating Trinity Christian College 3-1 (25-16, 25-18, 24-26, 25-21) inside McHie Arena.
Daynte Stewart had 10 kills and three digs in the opener while hitting .500 for the match.
Dante Siracusa added seven kills, a .500 hitting percentage and two blocks while Chandler Jones dished out 30 assists.
Mason Milan had nine digs, six kills and two blocks while Jon Fonad added three blocks.
The Tigers gave the Warriors all they could handle in the first set with 14 ties and five lead changes as they game went into extra serves. With the Warriors leading 22-20, Olivet Nazarene rattled off three straight points to force a timeout from Tech. After trading the next two points and fighting off set point, the Warriors got a kill from Siracusa, an ace from
Mario Capo and a block from
Raekwon Rogers to win 26-24.
The Tigers took an early 3-1 lead thanks to a pair of service aces by Max Slaughter, but two kills from Milan, another from Fonda and a double block by Siracusa and Fonda led to a 5-0 run to put the Warriors up 6-3 and they never looked back as they cruised to the 25-18 win and the 2-0 match lead.
The Orange and Black held all the momentum in the third as they jumped out to an 8-3 lead before using an 8-2 run to push the advantage to 20-9 and cruised to the 25-17 win and the sweep.
Stewart had a season-best 21 kills and 10 digs to go along with three blocks and a .386 hitting percentage against Trinity Christian while Siracusa had 12 kills, a .360 attack percentage and four blocks. Milan added 11 kills, three blocks and a .300 hitting percentage while Davis dished out 43 assists and
Joey Hermes had 20 digs, both season-highs.
Tech raced out to a 6-2 lead in the first set and put the game out of reach with a 5-0 run to make it an 18-8 advantage. The Trolls did put a little pressure on the Warriors as they cut the deficit to 22-16, but the Warriors responded with a 3-0 run to take the opening set. The Orange and Black held the early advantage to kick off the second set with a 7-3 lead, but Trinity Christian held them close this time around, trailing just 16-14 later on. Tech stepped up its play though, ending the set on an 8-3 run to go up 2-0.
The Trolls forced an early timeout by the Warriors in the third with a 3-0 run, only to see Tech respond with a 5-0 run, including three straight kills from Stewart. TCC cam right back with a 4-0 run as part of a 10-3 run that put them ahead 13-9. Tech retook the lead following a 5-0 spurt that put them up 18-17, only to see the Trolls go back up 23-20 following a 6-2 run. The Warriors battled back to tie the set up at 23-23 and 24-24, but a kill and an ace from Alex Costa put Trinity Christian on top 26-24.
The Trolls continued their impressive play in the fourth with a 5-2 spurt to start, but the Warriors battled back to knot things up at 8-8. Trinity Christian continued to hold on to the lead, but a 7-0 run by Tech gave them a 20-17 advantage as they rode the momentum to the 25-21 win and the 3-1 match victory.
Tech (6-0) kicks off conference play Saturday as they travel to Siena Heights University. First serve is set for 7:30 p.m. from the Siena Heights Fieldhouse.
