January 21, 2022 | by Nate Croswell

LEAD

PALOS HEIGHTS, Ill. -- The Sabercats split their season-opening matches tonight as they beat Central Christian in five sets then fell to Trinity in three sets.

Phil Holbrook led the offense with 16 kills, followed by strong performances by James Rossiter and Jared Fopma.

OVERVIEW

• Final: #4 Maranatha 3-2 #5 Central Christian (25-21, 21-25, 25-27, 25-13, 15-8)
• Final: #4 Maranatha 0-3 #2 Trinity Christian (13-25, 12-25, 14-25)
• Venue: Mitchell Gymnasium, DeVos Gymnasium, Trinity Christian College
• Location: Palos Heights, Ill.
• Attendance: --
• Records: Maranatha (1-1), Central Christian (0-5), Trinity Christian (3-2)

STORY

Central Christian: The Sabercats' opening match of the season began neck-and-neck as both Central and Maranatha kept pace with each other all throughout the first set. Kills from James Rossiter, Phil Holbrook, and Jared Fopma fueled the Sabercats' offense, leading them to push through at a 22-21 score to finish off the set with a 25-21 win. Central then went on to win the second and third sets by narrow scores of 21-25 and 25-27, but kills and service aces from Rossiter and Holbrook allowed the Sabercats to push Central to the brink in both sets.

Down 2-1, the Sabercats came roaring back in the fourth set with a 25-13 win. Thanks to kills from Jacob Valeria and Peyton Warner propelled Maranatha to a quick 11-4 lead, then Rossiter and Valeria recorded kills and the defense forced Central to make mistakes so Maranatha could cruise into the final set.

In that tie-breaker set, Central fought for the first several volleys, keeping the score at 4-4. That's when Holbrook stepped up to lead the Sabercats in kills in the set to propel them on to take a five-point lead, and that momentum carried Maranatha on to a 15-8 victory, resulting in their season-opening win in their season-opening match.

Trinity: After battling back against Central, the Sabercats were simply outgunned by the red-hot Trinity Trolls, who went on two different five-point runs on route to a powerful 25-13 win in the first set. In the second set, Trinity went on two more five-point runs, including three straight service aces in the first run, to run away to a 25-12 win. The third and final set was no different, as Trinity put together one big run and continued to pound a point or two every time the Sabercats could score, resulting in a 25-14 trinity win and a sweep for the Trolls.

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Maranatha Starters (combined): 2- Mueller, 6- Rossiter, 8- Hoffmann, 10- Warner, 11- Fopma, 12- Holbrook, 13- Holloway (L), 17- Valeria

STATS 

• Box Score Game 1
• Box Score Game 2
• Series: Maranatha now leads the all-time series against Central Christian 1-0
• Series: Trinity Christian now leads the all-time series 4-0
• Last Time: Trinity Christian beat Maranatha 3-0 on March 12, 2021

OPPONENTS

• This was Central's inaugural match as a program
• Trinity Christian hosted the event in 2020 and came into the tournament with a 1-2 record

NEXT

The Sabercats will return to the DeVos Gymnasium tomorrow to conclude the National Invitational against #1 Ottawa Arizona (12:00 p.m.) and #3 Geneva College (2:30 p.m.). Find details at mbusabercats.com/schedule.