Box Score Chicago, Ill. – The Aquinas College men's volleyball team put together a strong performance Friday night, defeating the Trinity Christian College Trolls in straight sets. Aquinas relied on steady offensive production, tough serving, and key blocks throughout the match as the Saints controlled the pace and earned the road victory for day two of their spring break trip.
Aquinas 3, Trinity Christian 0
Jayden Sturdevant sparked the opening set with two early kills, but the Trolls kept pace before a kill from Alexander Rodriguez briefly pushed Aquinas ahead 3–2. Trinity Christian responded to take a 5–3 advantage, but Braylon Amos and Joseph Hodgson answered with kills to even the score at 5–5. The teams traded points throughout the middle of the set until another kill from Hodgson and a pair from Connor Staats helped the Saints create separation, 11–7. Trinity Christian cut the deficit to two at 15–13, but a block from Ryden Luedtke and Hodgson followed by a Troll attack error allowed Aquinas to regain control at 17–13. Sturdevant later delivered a service ace, while Rodriguez recorded back-to-back kills and Staats added an ace to push AQ ahead 23–20. Staats teamed up with a Trinity Christian error to close out the opening frame, 25–21.
The Saints found their rhythm quickly in the second set. After a slow start, Sturdevant delivered two kills while Hodgson and Luedtke combined for a block to spark a 6–3 run. Sturdevant, Rodriguez, and Amos continued the surge, extending the lead to 9–5. Rodriguez and Sturdevant added a block before Sturdevant recorded another kill to stretch the margin to 15–9. Andrew Sliwinski added a kill and Sturdevant later served up another ace as Aquinas built a commanding 22–11 advantage. Langston Korte and Rodriguez sealed the set with a block, giving the Saints a decisive 25–12 win.
Aquinas carried that momentum into the third set. Early Troll errors gave AQ the edge before an ace from Sturdevant and a kill from Garrett Anderson helped the Saints move ahead 8–5. Trinity Christian narrowed the gap to one, but Anderson answered with a kill before Luedtke served an ace and Sliwinski and Zachary Nosky combined for a block to make it 11–8. Gage Dinges set up Staats for another kill, and Sliwinski added one of his own to extend the lead to 15–9. Sturdevant and Brock Hoffman added kills while Tristan DePooter chipped in another to push Aquinas to a 20–13 advantage. Andrew Jones later set Dominic Nelson for a kill, and Nosky finished the sweep with a kill to secure the 25–19 set victory.
Coaches Comment
"Anytime you can go on the road and come away with a sweep, it says a lot about the focus of the group," said head coach Michael Crane. "Our serving put pressure on them all night and we had a lot of guys step up offensively. When we play connected like that and trust each other, we can be a really tough team to handle."
By the Numbers
Up Next
The Saints will wrap up their spring break trip tomorrow (March 14) with a matchup against The University of Olivet, looking to carry the momentum from today's performance into another strong showing.
