PALOS HEIGHTS, Ill. – In their final game of the regular season, the Olivet Nazarene University men's volleyball team cruised to a 25-20, 25-23, 25-20 straight-set victory over Trinity Christian Thursday night in DeVos Gymnasium.

The win improves the Tigers to 14-12 overall and 8-4 in league play, good for sole possession of second place in the final conference standings. This also secures ONU a first-round bye in the upcoming CCAC Tournament.

ONU had to shake off a slow start in the early goings, with the Trolls (2-20, 1-10 CCAC) racing out to a 7-1 advantage in the opening set. However, consecutive kills from Jackson Harvey and Jaiton Kamaunu got momentum rolling, and a Patrick Ray service ace a few points later knotted the score at 10-all.

Harvey and Kamaunu teamed up with Garrett Schad to roof a block that broke a 13-13 tie. Kamaunu followed up with another kill, and a Kyle Szymanski ace pushed the ONU lead to three. Brody McAfee later closed out the set with a kill to stake ONU to a 1-0 lead.

The Tigers pulled away late after a back-and-forth start to the second set. After a four-point TCC run tied the game at 16-16, McAfee hammered down a kill to put ONU back in front. Ray put ONU at match point with a kill, and a TCC error wrapped the set for the Tigers.

The Purple & Yellow Gold used another late push to secure the sweep. Schad broke another 16-16 tie with a kill, and the lead was extended off a Troll attack error and a Will Byers kill to up the lead to three. Three consecutive TCC errors pushed the Tigers to match point, and Brody McAfee iced the match with his 11th kill of the night.

McAfee led the match with his 11 tallies on a .286 hitting percentage. Harvey produced nine kills, and Kamaunu finished with eight. Kamaunu also anchored the back row with a team-high seven digs. Byers led ONU with 14 assists.

ONU will advance directly to the semifinal round of the CCAC Tournament at the Savannah Center next week, where they will face the winner of the Judson-Trinity Christian quarterfinal match.

--ONU—

*Contact: Evan Wild, Sports Information Director, ewwild@olivet.edu