March 13, 2023 | by Ashley Nerat

LEAD

DEERFIELD, Ill. -- Tonight was the moment the Sabercats had been waiting for. They added a win to their record with a 3-1 victory over Trinity Int'l. 

The night was full of career-high statistics from Drew Smith, Zach Mueller, Daniel Says, Titus Huston, and Jacob Valeria. 

Mueller had his best setting match of the season, finishing with 32 assists, just three short of his current career-high. For the second match in a row, Valeria led the Sabercats in the hitting category. He finished with 14 kills on the night, his new career-high. 

OVERVIEW

• Final: Maranatha 3-1 Trinity Int'l (23-25, 25-15, 25-23, 25-14)
• Venue: Meyer Sports Complex - Trinity International University
• Location: Deerfield, Ill.
• Records: MBU (1-29), TIU (0-17)

STORY   

It was a dog fight from the beginning as both Maranatha and Trinity Int'l battled things out. With both teams coming into the match with winless records on the season, the energy was bound to be high. 

While Maranatha jumped out to the first lead, Trinity would not let themselves fall far behind. With a total of seven ties and four lead changes, the first set came to a close with Trinity getting a 25-23 edge on Maranatha. 

Jacob Valeria slammed down a kill to start the Sabercats off in the second set. This surge of energy led to a 5-0 start for Maranatha. 

The flustered Trojans were left with no choice but to call an early timeout, in hopes of trying to turn things around. But the timeout did them no good as they gave up error after error to the Sabercats. Maranatha was able to seal the deal with a 25-15 win in set two.

That sweet taste of victory left the Sabercats craving more, and the Maranatha front line went completely off, having their best set of the entire season. The Sabercats finished the third set with a .407 hitting percentage with a total of 15 kills. Daniel Says led his team in the third set with five of these kills. 

Despite the impressive hitting from Maranatha, the Trojans were able to stay in the game and keep things close. Similar to the first set, the game went back and forth, coming down to the final points. 

Coming out of a time-out and trailing by one point (MBU 18-19 TIU), Jacob Valeria hit down back-to-back-to-back kills to give Maranatha the 21-20 lead. That was all the energy the Sabercats needed to finish the set strong and they pulled through with a 25-23 win. 

Needing just one more set to get that first match win the Sabercats had been craving so badly, the team went to work and grabbed a 4-1 lead to start the fourth set. The Trojans on the other hand could not seem to maintain their high energy, and they were forced to watch as things quickly grew out of hand. 

A kill from Drew Smith sealed the deal for the Sabercats as they closed the fourth set with a 25-14 win and welcomed their first-season victory. 

Not only did the team have one of their best games of the season, finishing with 37 kills, 36 assists, and 56 digs on the night, but multiple players ended with new career highs. Senior Drew Smith had one of the best games of his career, finishing with four kills and 10 digs (both career-highs). He also contributed two of Maranatha's seven service aces. Titus Huston and Zach Mueller also put in work keeping the floors clean. They both set career-highs with nine digs apiece. Still, it was Jordan Hoffmann who led the Sabercats defensively on the night, finishing with 11 digs. 

Jacob Valeria and Daniel Says both set career-highs in the kill category, leading the Sabercats on the night with 14 and 10 kills respectively.

The Sabercats close out their season tomorrow with one final home match, against Mt Mercy.

Maranatha Starters: 1- Smith, 2- Mueller, 7- Lacock, 8-Hoffmann (Libero), 12- Says, 13- Huston, 17- Valeria

STATS 

• Jacob Valeria: 14K*, 1SA, 1DIG
• Drew Smith: 4K*, 10DIGS*, 2SA
• Daniel Says: 10K*, 1SA, 5DIGS, 2BLKS
• Zach Mueller: 32A, 9DIGS*, 1SA
• Titus Huston: 3K, 9DIGS*, 1SA, 1BLK
• Box Score (Coming Soon)
• Last time: This is the first match between the two teams
• Series: The Sabercats now lead the series against Trinity Int'l 1-0

*(Career-High)

OPPONENTS

• Trinity Int'l competes in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (NAIA) (NCAA-Dlll)
• Trinity Int'l has not had a program since 2015, where they finished with a record of 0-23.

NEXT

The Sabercats return to Watertown, Wisconsin where they will close out their season with a match against Mt. Mercy, tomorrow, March 14, at 7 p.m. Follow at mbusabercats.com/schedule.