SPRINGFIELD — The top-seeded Wittenberg men's volleyball team fell 3-1 to third-seeded Trine in the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League Tournament finals on Saturday. The Thunder won the championship 25-19, 25-19, 20-25, 25-21.

The Basics

• Records: Wittenberg (19-9 overall), Trine (19-6 overall)
• Venue: Pam Evans Smith Arena - Springfield, Ohio
• Tournament Info Website
• Baldwin Wallace won the MCVL Tournament championship in 2023.
• Trine earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. The tournament selection show will air on NCAA.com on Monday at 10 a.m.
• Sophomores Eli Halverson (Hamilton, Ohio/Badin) and Michael Yurk (Indianapolis, Ind./Bishop Chatard) were both named to the MCVL All-Tournament Team after the match.

Stat Leaders

• Halverson led the Tigers in kills with 15, and Yurk was also in double-digits with 11 kills.
• Sophomore Sam Richardson (Akron, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) had 23 assists, and senior Andrew Diaz de Padilla (Nipomo, Calif./Central Coast New Tech) was second on the team with 16.
• Senior Tom Supan (Medina, Ohio/Medina) finished the match with 12 digs, and sophomore Jake Downs (Cincinnati, Ohio/Milford) was close behind with eight.
• Halverson also led Wittenberg with four total blocks in the match, and Supan had a team-high three service aces.
• Kevin Boncaro led Trine with 14 kills.

The Game

• Set one went to 18-16 in favor of Trine without either team having a lead of more than three points. Trine was then able to score three straight points to go up by five, and Wittenberg wasn't able to overcome the deficit, dropping the first set 25-19.
• The second set was much of the same, staying close until Trine pulled out to a 21-16 lead after back-to-back kills and scored four in the time the Tigers scored three to again take the set 25-19.
• Set three was a different story, with Wittenberg pulling away after a 10-10 tie, taking a 16-11 lead. Wittenberg led by no fewer than four points from that point on en route to the 25-20 victory.
• In the fourth set, Trine came out on a roll, going up 14-5. After the Tigers cut the lead to 21-16, Supan went on a roll serving, including back-to-back aces at one point and brought the Tigers back to within one, 21-20. Over the time it took Trine to score four, the Tigers could only score one, dropping the third set 25-21, and the match 3-1.
• Wittenberg hit .141 in thw match with 46 kills and 26 errors. Trine hit .285 with 49 kills and 14 errors.

Records & Milestones

• Third-year head coach Nathan Matthews is now 49-36 all-time at Wittenberg.
• This year marked Wittenberg's second all-time appearance in the MCVL Tournament. The Tigers fell 3-1 in the semifinals to eventual champion Baldwin Wallace in 2023.
• Wittenberg is now 2-5 all-time against Trine. During the regular season, on April 5, the Tigers defeated the Thunder 3-2, winning 25-23, 18-25, 25-19, 26-28, 15-11.
• On Thursday, the MCVL announced Matthews as the league's Coach of the Year and Monnin as the league's Rookie of the Year. Yurk earned All-MCVL First Team recognition, and Monnin, Supan and Halverson were named to the Second Team. Matthews has now earned Coach of the Year honors in back-to-back seasons.
• Diaz de Padilla has a team-high 598 assists this season and ranks third in program history with 1,208 career assists. His 610 assists from last season rank seventh in program history for a single season. Richardson ranks fifth in program history with 758 career assists.
• Yurk has a team-high 342 kills this season, which is a program record for a single season. He ranks fourth in program history with 535 career kills. Halverson ranks sixth in program history with 505 career kills, and Supan ranks ninth with 435 career kills.
• Supan has a team-high 233 digs this season, which ranks first all-time at Wittenberg for a single season. His 366 career digs ranks fifth in program history, and he is the program's all-time leader in career aces with 82. Downs ranks seventh all-time with 327 career digs.