GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Today the Calvin men's volleyball team opened up MCVL play when they fell 0-3 to the Thunder of Trine with scores of 18-25, 14-25, and 15-25.
 
In the first set of the evening freshman Gavin Barber (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) led the way for the Knights as he recorded two kills and one dig. Calvin gained a bit of momentum when sophomore Nick Bultje (Byron Center, Mich./South Christian) headed to the service line where he went on a bit of a run with an ace thrown in the mix. However, Trine recovered quickly and went on to win the set to take the 1-0 lead.
 
Freshman Jackson Cook (Kuna, Id./IHLA) was the standout for the Knights in the second set as he recorded six digs while sophomore Wyatt Burch (Highlands Ranch, Co./Valor Christian) chipped in a kill. However, despite Calvin's efforts the Thunder were able to extend their lead to 2-0 after winning the set.
 
Trine continued to keep the momentum on their side as they finished off the Knights in the third set to pick up the 3-0 victory.
 
Bultje finished the evening with a team high five kills while Barber and Gabriel Laughlin (Grand Rapids, Mich./West Michigan Aviation Academy) each chipped in four kills. Junior libero Parker Steele (Boscobel, Wis./Boscobel) recorded a team high 11 digs while freshman Troy Jones (Sparta, Mich./Sparta) and freshman Giovanni Serafini (São Paulo, Brazil/American School of São Paulo) each recorded three block assists.
 
Freshman setter Alejandro Burns (Chandler Az./Seton Catholic Preparatory) and sophomore setter Cameron Dogger (Holland, Mich./Zion Christian) both finished the match with eight assists.
 
COACHES COMMENT: "We hurt ourselves with our errors tonight," said head coach Spencer Fredrick. "in the second set alone we gave up close to seventeen errors and if we had limited that we probably would have been in a better situation. The bright side is that this was only our first conference competition and s=we have seven more opportunities to fix the ship."
 
UP NEXT: The Knights will be back in action on Saturday, March 1st when they travel to Olivet for two matches. The first match against Olivet will start at 12PM followed by a match against Illinois Institute of Technology at 2PM.