SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - Today the Calvin men's volleyball team competed in the semifinals of the MCVL Tournament where it upset the MCVL regular season co-champions from Trine University in three straight sets. With scores of 25-22, 25-17, and 25-23 Calvin snapped Trine's nine-match win streak and came just over a week after the Knights had suffered a four-match loss at Trine. The Trine loss was its first since February 20. 

Calvin will face host Wittenberg University in the MCVL Tournament Championship match on Saturday at 3 p.m. with the winner receiving an automatic bid to the NCAA III Tournament. 
 
In the first set of the day, the Knights came out swinging as junior duo Daniel Rua (Medellín, Colombia/Colegio Canadiense) and Brady Gudauskas (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) each recorded four kills. Fellow junior Nick Bultje (Byron Center, Mich./South Christian) and sophomore Bryce Broekhuizen (Kalamazoo, Mich./Kalamazoo) both came up with key blocks as Calvin won the set to take a 1-0 lead.
 
Freshman setter Owen Wise (Lombard, Ill./Timothy Christian) spread the ball around in the second set as seven different Knights recorded a kill. Bultje led the way with five kills and a service ace while junior Justus Barbel (Aurora, Ill./West Aurora) chipped in four kills.
 
Rua and Gudauskas kept things rolling in the third set as they both notched five kills apiece as the Knights picked up the 25-23 win and completed the three-set sweep.
 
Calvin finished with a .280 hitting percentage with their best performance of .355 coming in the second set. Gudauskas finished with a team high twelve kills while Rua was close behind with nine. Bultje filled the stat sheet as he finished with seven kills, four blocks, and one service ace while Broekhuizen finished with a team high five blocks.
 
Sophomore setter Ezekiel Jalan (Oconomowoc, Wis./Arrowhead) finished the match with fifteen assists and Wise finished with fourteen assists. Freshman libero Brantley Tiede (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) led the way for Calvin with nine digs.
 
COACHES COMMENTS: "Our guys battled and believed in each other from the start to the finish," said head coach Aaron Sagraves. "Last week didn't go our way and we talked all week about a new opportunity to play one point at a time and see what happens! We had a balanced offense and our blocking/defense was huge from start to finish! Super proud of the whole team for continuing to play for and support each other well!"
 
UP NEXT: The Knights will play in the MCVL Championship tomorrow at 3 PM against host Wittenberg.