PALOS HEIGHTS, Ill. — The Goshen College men's volleyball team won the first set in program history Friday night in a four-set loss to Trinity Christian College at DeVos Gymnasium.

Alexander Rabadzhiev led the Maple Leafs (0-2) with 15 kills and 2 blocks in a 25-23, 16-25, 25-23, 25-15 defeat.

Goshen raced to an 11-6 lead in the opening set after a six-point run on Nick Yutzy's serve, but the Trolls (1-0) answered with five of the next six points to bring the margin back within two. Rabadzhiev and Christian Rodriguez each had a pair of kills to put Goshen back in front later in the set, but neither team led by more than two points the rest of the way and three straight Trinity points gave the hosts an initial win.

The Maple Leafs' lead stood up in the second set, though: a Rabadzhiev kill and a block from Andy Bennett and Michael Wahl gave GC a lead it wouldn't relinquish at 8-6. Goshen hit .227 in the set, goading the Trolls into 8 hitting and 2 blocking errors. Elias Baer added an ace before Christian Rodriguez and Michael Wahl had the honor of hooking up for the winning point.

The teams traded four-point runs early in the third set before tying the score at every opportunity from 9-all to 16-all. Goshen took four points in a row for a 19-16 lead, but three kills and an ace brought the Trolls level again at 20-all before two attack errors left the hosts in front. The Leafs responded with three of the next five points, but each time Trinity had an answer on the wnsuing side-out and Ben Tocila's winner finished off the set.

Trinity's turn for an early run came in the fourth set as a Dan Ryan block keyed a 5-0 run that turned a one-point Troll lead into a 12-6 edge. Rabadzhiev added a pair of kills and a block over the second half of the set and the Maple Leafs received five TCC service errors, but the hosts racked up 12 kills against a single hitting error to finish off their season opener.

Ryan led the Trolls with 15 kills while Djordje Novakovic added 11, part of a 47-40 Trinity Christian edge in the winners column. Jonathan Poortinga led all players with five blocks and Danny Lawrence recorded 40 assists.

Rodriguez added 9 kills and Baer 7 for the Maple Leafs, who got 32 assists from Wahl and 12 digs out of Rodriguez. Rabadzhiev and Bennett led the team with two blocks apiece.

Goshen returns to the court Tuesday evening to start a four-match homestand when the Maple Leafs host third-ranked Lourdes University at 7 p.m. in a Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference match. GC plays every other day from Tuesday through the following Monday.