PALOS HEIGHTS, Ill. – It was a marathon of sorts in the DeVos Gymnasium of Thursday, Feb. 11. The third set between Trinity Christian College men's volleyball team and Cardinal Stritch University (Wis.) had gotten to match point in favor of the Wolves, but the Trolls were determined to not go down without a fight. Trinity battled back to win the third set 26-24 and kept the momentum to easily take the fourth set 25-11 and force the winner- takes-all deciding set. Although Trinity fell behind early, they once again battled back but couldn't quite make the magic happen twice. In the end, the Wolves drove off with a 25-22, 25-20, 24-26, 15-25, 15-11 win, handing the Trolls their second straight Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference loss.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Season-high 13 kills in 37 attempts with six errors (.189), nine digs, two block assists, two assists
• Ryan Schmidt: Team-leading 39 assists, 11 digs, two kills, two block assists
• Ben Gabor: 13 kills in 44 attempts with six errors (.159), team-leading 13 digs, five blocks (one solo)
• Jake Ostema: Nine kills in 17 attempts with five errors (.235), three block solos, three block assists

NEWS AND NOTES

• Thursday marked the second straight CCAC match where the Trolls faced a ranked, undefeated team, falling to Saint Xavier earlier in the week.
• Trinity ranks in the top-20 in the NAIA 11 statistical categories, including 6^th in Total Blocks (51.5).
• Jake Ostema ranks 8^th in Total Blocks (25) and 9^th in Blocks per Game (1.090) in the NAIA.
• Ben Gabor ranks 19^th in the NAIA in Total Blocks (19) and 22^nd in Total Kills (69).
• Ryan Schmidt ranks 13^th in the NAIA in Total Assists (167).

WHAT'S NEXT

Trinity (4-3, 3-2) will host Webber International University (Fla.) on Saturday, Feb. 13. The match is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. There are no spectators allowed in the DeVos Center, but please tune in to the live stream.