MISHAWAKA, Ind. — In the first match of the season, the Bethel Pilots (1-0) came back from losing the first two sets and won three straight to down the Trine Thunder (0-1) 3-2 on Tuesday night in the Gates Gymnasium.
The Pilots forced extra points in the first set after being down 24-18 but hit a 6-0 run with Arthur Barreto’s kill and five straight attack errors to tie it 24-24. The Thunder took advantage of a service error and a kill by Ted Hofmeister to win the first set 26-24.
The Pilots were down 21-15 in the second set and almost climbed back off a 4-0 run, but the Thunder retaliated with four straight points to take a two-set advantage.
At 17-12, the Pilots forced Trine to take a timeout and maintained a steady rhythm, with the Thunder unable to get more than one point at a time. The Thunder won the third set 25-18.
The fourth set was a dog fight with the Thunder keeping a one-point lead until Bethel called a timeout at 21-20 Trine and took advantage of an attack error by Hofmeister, and Marcos Henrike followed with a kill 24-22, then Andre Parra sealed the set victory 25-23.
With the crowd roaring, the Pilots tied the fifth set 7-7 on Parra’s kill and Kevin Boncaro’s attack error to force the court switch to 8-7. The Pilots rode a 3-0 run to win their first match over the Thunder after getting swept last year in Angola.
NEXT TIME OUT
The Pilots will host the second-year College of Dupage program on Tuesday, Feb. 6, at 7 p.m. in the Goodman Gymnasium before hosting the big Adidas GameOne Invitational on Feb. 9-10.