PALOS HEIGHTS, Ill. – In front of a full student section inside DeVos Gymnasium, Trinity volleyball came up just short on Thursday night, falling in the regular season finale to Olivet Nazarene in five sets.

Alex Costa was one of three Trolls in double figures, leading the team with 16 kills and 13 digs. Chris Dargan had 13 kills, while Mike Hay tallied 11 with a team-leading .400 attack percentage.

Ryan Schmidt scored 26 assists, with Nick Mioni registering 20. Jacob Krefft led the defense with 14 digs.

In the opening set the visitors would take the first significant lead of the night, using a 6-1 run to move in front 11-7 midway through the set. The Trolls (16-10, 8-5 CCAC) would eventually even the score at 15-15 following a kill from Mioni and back-to-back attacking errors. With a narrow 21-20 edge, the Tigers (17-6, 11-2 CCAC) would score three in a row to take the opener, 25-22.

Trinity bounced back in game two, as a block from Hay and Costa would tie the game at 15-15 and start a six-point rally for the Trolls that saw Dargan's kill give the home team a 20-15 lead. Mioni's kill set up game point at 24-19, and Schmidt would even the match with a kill at 25-20.

The Tigers would jump out to an early 10-5 lead in game three, before the Trolls worked their way back into the game with Dargan's kill at 16-16. Olivet would score six of the next eight however, taking a 22-18 lead and closing out the set moments later with a 25-21 win.

Seven lead changes throughout a back-and-forth game four saw the Trolls move in front with Hay's kill at 18-17, capping a 4-1 run for Trinity. Olivet would move back in front with a block at 23-22, but a kill followed by a block from Costa gave the Trolls set point at 24-23. The Tigers got the block on the next play to pull even, but Costa scored another kill to regain set point, then an attacking error closed out the set, 26-24 in favor of Trinity to force a fifth set.

Trinity took an 8-6 lead midway through the fifth, before a 6-2 run for the Tigers would give Olivet the 12-10 advantage. A kill by Mioni would tie the game at 12-12, but Olivet would come back with two in a row and close out the match two plays later, 15-13.

Despite the loss, Trinity secured the No. 4 seed in next week's CCAC Tournament, and will host a first-round matchup with Calumet on Tuesday, March. 21. First serve from DeVos with a trip to the CCAC Semifinals on the line is set for 7:00 p.m.