Palos Heights, Ill. - Playing just 24 hours after falling in five sets to Cardinal Stritch, Trinity Christian College men's volleyball (7-7, 2-3 CCAC) took advantage of some home cooking. The Trolls took down non-conference foe Aquinas University in four sets, 25-18, 25-27, 25-20, 25-21. 

The win proved large for the Trolls against an Aquinas team that barely missed the national rankings a few weeks ago. The Trinity attack was led by sophomore Alex Costa. He went for a season high 22 kills and five aces. The power hitting Costa did it with an efficient .349 (22-7-43) attack percentage. 

The Trolls featured a different looking offense on Friday evening. Sophomore Mike Hay moved to outside hitter and senior Adam Becker slid over to libero. The plan worked beautifully. The Trolls opened up set one with a 14-10 advantage. Costa helped the Trolls take a 16-11 lead on a kill to help Trinity take the first set. 

Trinity was kncoking on the door of a victory in set two. Leading 24-23, Aquinas marched back to take the lead. After an Adam Becker ace to make it 25-24, the Trolls couldn't seel the deal, and Aquinas scored the next three points to earn the win. 

In sets three and four, it was a steady diet of sophomore Nick Mioni and Ryan Schmidt leading the passing attack. With the Trolls trailing 19-18, Costa picked up a big kill to tie the score. It was the start of a 7-2 run and the Trolls ended the third set with a Costa ace. In the fourth set, the Trolls ran out to a 14-9 advantage and didn't look back. Aquinas made it 22-20 but the Trolls went to Hay to finish the night for a 25-21 victory.

NOTES & NUMBERS:

• While Costa did most of his damage on offense, his defense was also stellar. He had six kills and also had three block assists. 
• Senior Jake Ostema finished second on the team with 11 kills and six blocks. His six blocks were a season high. 
• As Becker moved back to libero, he led the Trolls with 12 digs. 
• Schmidt had 32 assists. It's the fourth time this year he has reached 30+ assists this year. 

UP NEXT: The Trolls will return to DeVos Gymnasium for another non-conference matchup on Thursday, Feb. 24 against Concordia University Chicago (2-9, 1-1 NACC). First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.