BANNOCKBURN, Ill. — On a chilly Tuesday evening in Van Dixhorn, the Trojans opened the proceedings by honoring their respected and loved coaching trio in word before doing likewise in deed, posting a scrappy and resilient effort despite dropping a nip-and-tuck affair to the Fighting Bees of St. Ambrose in the penultimate match of the season and the program's existence.

The night started off with a jubilant vibe as the team took a moment to heap praise and adulation on their iconic coaching staff. First up was assistant coach Stephen DiDimizzio, the talisman of the most recent iteration of the men's volleyball contingent, followed by the pair of national champions with the women's squad who have accumulated a myriad of accolades, associate head coach Kennedy Mang and head coach Luke Ward.

Once the action got underway, the Trojans came out swinging, with Soren Halvorsen and Laziah McDaniels etching their names onto the scoresheet with early kills. Trinity took advantage of a deluge of miscues by the Bees, who had six service errors in the set, to remain hitched to their rival throughout the middle stages of the stanza. Eventually, the Bees did manage to carve out a decisive 25-14 margin, despite the heroics of the scrappy Halvorson, who piled up three kills in the frame.

The Trojans initially appeared to be a bruised and beaten bunch when they limped out of the gate in set two, conceding the first four scores to the Bees, but that perception couldn't have been further from the truth. Trinity would vaporize the visitors' edge in short order, eventually knotting the reckoning at 11 following aces by leading killer Matthew Perry and dynamic threat Ethan Losinger. The squads continued to play tug-of-war, with the Bees harboring a slim advantage throughout most of the stretch run. At one point, the rival clubs collaborated for one of the most thrilling plays of the season, a mind-numbing, seemingly eternal rally that was highlighted by McDaniels and Jaylen Thompson diving successively to keep the ball off the floorboards before Jaret Wiler unleashed an acrobatic, whirling strike to loft it back over the net before the Bees eventually recorded the score. It was Thompson who took center stage for Trinity in the closing stages, tallying two kills and an ace as the Trojans continued to scrap, but Ambrose held off the closing Trinity charge to claim the set by a 25-22 final.

The third set was again a see-saw affair, with the Trojans flipping the script by vaulting ahead to a 3-0 edge before trading the lead with the Bees several times. The Trojans enjoyed their strongest spurt midway through the proceedings, claiming six of seven points from the Bees with McDaniels responsible for a trio of kills. The inspired spree put the Trojans on top, 17-14, but Ambrose battled back, with the Trojans buoyed to a slim 23-21 edge behind more heroics from McDaniels, whose final kill to establish that margin marked his fifth of the set. Unfortunately, Trinity couldn't foster the margin, with the Bees closing the set—and the match—with an inspired 4-0 run to take a 25-23 victory.

While the Trojans didn't manage to pry a set from their conference foe, they continued to show their sustained improvement with a strong, competitive effort against a young and high-powered St. Ambrose side. McDaniels was the star of the show for Trinity, continuing his late-season surge with seven kills and a .238 hitting percentage, both of which would have marked career highs if not for his excellent effort against Maranatha Baptist the previous night. Halvorson (six kills), Losinger (10 assists, two aces), and Perry (four solo blocks) also stuffed the stat sheet to aid the Trojan cause.

The Trojans will close out their season, as well as the tumultuous yet entertaining multi-decade saga that has been the men's volleyball program, with a final home clash with the Judson Eagles on the evening of Thursday, March 23.
     

---

 

TIU Trojans
TIU Men's Volleyball