SPRINGFIELD — The Wittenberg men's volleyball team won a thrilling 3-2 match against Trine in Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League action on Friday night. The Tigers won 25-23, 18-25, 25-19, 26-28, 15-11, securing their seventh straight victory and the conference regular-season championship that comes with the No. 1 seed and hosting honors for next week's MCVL Tournament.

The Basics

• Records: Wittenberg (17-8 overall, 8-0 MCVL), Trine (16-6 overall, 6-2 MCVL)
• Venue: Pam Evans Smith Arena - Springfield, Ohio
• With one game to play, Wittenberg is seeking its first undefeated record in conference play in program history.
• Wittenberg claims its second straight MCVL regular season championship after earning a share of it last season with Baldwin Wallace and Mount Union.
• Wittenberg, Baldwin Wallace, Trine and Mount Union have clinched berths in the four-team MCVL Tournament, which is scheduled for April 12-13. These are the same four teams that qualified for the 2023 conference tournament, which was won by Baldwin Wallace.
• With Friday's victory, the Tigers clinched the top seed and hosting honors for the MCVL Tournament. With one game still to play for each team, Wittenberg and Baldwin Wallace could tie atop the conference standings, but the Tigers hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Stat Leaders

• Sophomore Michael Yurk (Indianapolis, Ind./Bishop Chatard) and freshman Reese Monnin (Xenia, Ohio/Carroll) led the Tigers in kills with 16 each. Monnin had a .353 hitting percentage to lead the team.
• Senior Tom Supan (Medina, Ohio/Medina) was a close second on the team with 15 kills.
• Sophomore Sam Richardson (Akron, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) led the team with 32 assists, and senior Andrew Diaz de Padilla (Nipmo, Calif./Central Coast New Tech) added 22 assists.
• Senior Kurt Klamfoth (Gahanna, Ohio/ Gahanna Lincoln) led the team with five blocks, and Monnin added four blocks.
• Ted Hofmeister led Trine with 23 kills.
• Wittenberg had 63 kills and 26 errors with a .226 hitting percentage, and Trine hit .166 with 51 kills and 25 errors.

The Game

• Wittenberg and Trine had 18 ties in the first set with Wittenberg winning the last three points via a kill from Supan and two Trine attack errors to take the 25-23 win.
• The Tigers and Thunder kept it close in the second set with 11 ties, but after the score being tied at 13-13, Wittenberg only scored five more points as Trine took the 25-18 victory.
• Wittenberg dominated Trine in the third set, opening it with an early 11-5 lead. That stretch included a seven-point run with two kills from Monnin and one each from Yurk and sophomore Trajan Kress (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore) plus three errors by Trine. Wittenberg never allowed Trine to get within four points and won the set 25-19.
• Wittenberg trailed 22-15 in the fourth set but answered with a 9-2 run to tie the score at 24-all. That stretch included three kills from Yurk and one kill each from Supan, Monnin and Kress. The teams eventually played to a 26-all tie before Trine scored the final two points for the 28-26 win to fourth the fifth set.
• Wittenberg took early control of the fifth set, taking a 13-6 edge. The Thunder responded with a 5-0 run to get within two, 13-11, but a Trine error followed by a kill from Supan closed out the victory for the Tigers.

Video

Quote - Head coach Nathan Matthews

• "You wouldn't want to win a championship any other way. The way we fought, the way we supported each other, the way we overcame mistakes. These guys earned the title Champions!"

Records & Milestones

• Third-year head coach Nathan Matthews is now 47-35 all-time at Wittenberg.
• Wittenberg is now 2-4 all-time against Trine.
• Diaz de Padilla has 541 assists this season and ranks third in program history with 1,151 career assists. His 610 assists from last season rank seventh in program history for a single season. Richardson ranks fifth in program history with 697 career assists.
• Yurk has a team-high 300 kills this season, which ranks second in program history for a single season. He ranks fifth in program history with 493 career kills. Sophomore Eli Halverson (Hamilton, Ohio/Badin) ranks seventh in program history with 470 career kills, and Supan ranks 10th with 415 career kills.
• Supan has a team-high 199 digs this season, which ranks fifth all-time at Wittenberg for a single season. His 332 career digs rank sixth in program history. Sophomore Jake Downs (Cincinnati, Ohio/Milford) ranks eighth all-time with 306 career digs.

Up Next

• The Tigers return to action on Saturday hosting MCVL foe Calvin at 1 p.m. for Senior Day in their final game of the regular season.