Falcons Top Trine

MEQUON, Wis. – The Falcon men's volleyball team hosted the Trine Thunder on Friday night in their first matchup of the 2023 season inside the R. John Buuck Fieldhouse. The match was their first of three in the 2023 CUW Invitational.

The Blue and White outlasted the Thunder in a back-and-forth, 3-1 victory which saw only the final score of 25-23.

The Blue and White claimed the set-one victory with the winning side of the 25-23 score, the Thunder claimed the 25-23 victory in set two, and the Falcons recorded 25-23 victories in sets three and four to take the 3-1 win.

The Falcons and the Thunder were tied at 23 heading into the final points of the first set, but a kill from freshman Ben Kayser (Milwaukee, Wis.) and a poorly-timed attacking error by Trine gave the Blue and White the victory in the opening frame.

The second set saw the birds fall behind 7-13 in the early stages of the set. The flock didn't give up and fought back to down one point at 23-24 with a nine-point run, but fell at the last point for the back end of a 23-25 set.

The third set was back and forth with multiple lead changes and ties but saw both teams knotted at 23 once again. A service error as well as an attack error lifted the Blue and White over the Thunder with another final score of 25-23.

The final frame saw Trine hop out to a 7-4 lead in the first 11 points of the set, but the Blue and White stormed back with a five-point run to make it 9-7. The fourth set was yet another that saw the teams knotted at 23, but a kill from junior Spencer Herman (Kimberly, Wis.) and an error from the Thunder pushed the Falcons to a victorious 25-23 final and a 3-1 match score.

The Falcons put up a wall at the net with one solo block and 21 assist blocks on the night. Sophomore Lucas Beres (Germantown, Wis.) led at the net with one solo and five assist blocks. He added six kills and one error on 11 swings for a .455 hitting percentage. 

Sophomore Logan Kebisek (Brookfield, Wis.) recorded a double-double with 32 assists on the evening and added four kills and 10 digs.

Kayser led the Falcons with 11 kills. He added nine digs, five assist blocks, and one ace for a team-leading 14.5 points.

The blue and White continue their 2023 CUW Invitational on Saturday with matchups against Mount Union and No. 10 UC-Santa Cruz.