TRAFALGAR, Ind. - After a few painful near-misses in recent weeks, the Midway men's volleyball team had the breakthrough day it was waiting for, earning its first two wins of the season at the Franklin College Tri-Match on Saturday.

The Eagles came back from a set down and even fended off a set-five match point, taking down Franklin 23-25, 25-18, 25-16, 27-25, 17-15 in the opener.

They also recorded a three-set sweep of Maranatha Baptist (Wisc.).

MIDWAY 3, FRANKLIN 2

The Bears appeared to have the Eagles on the ropes. After going up 2-1 with a dominant, nine-point win in set three, they held an 18-13 lead in the fourth.

But starting with a Jordan Dailey kill, the Eagles scored seven of the next nine points, tying the match at 20 on an attack error.

The teams would trade the next six points before Midway took a 24-23 lead on a kill by JT Kimball. The back-and-forth would continue, with the Eagles needing three set points before finally sealing the deal on a Braden Cacek service ace

The fifth set followed a similar formula, only this time it was Midway that jumped out to the early lead.

Following a Jaden Alston kill and two Franklin errors, the Eagles held an 11-7 lead, only for the Bears to score the next four points to tie things up.

The teams would again alternate six points before the Bears took a 15-14 lead on an Eric Peiffer kill. But Midway would answer by scoring the next two points, getting to match point itself on a kill by Kimball and an attack error.

Once again, it would come down to the serve of Cacek, and once again he delivered with an ace, sealing the win for Midway, which is 3-0 against Franklin over the last two seasons.

Kimball was a force at the net the entire game, recording 18 kills on a .536 hitting percentage. Dailey and Noah Fichter frequently helped set him up, finishing with 22 and 19 assists respectively.

Lincoln Anderson added 20 digs to aid in the winning effort.

MIDWAY 3, MARANATHA BAPTIST 0

Things were far less dramatic this time around, with the Eagles winning in comfortable fashion. Due to man-power issues at the tournament, stats for this match were not available at press time.

This marked the first sweep by an Eagle team since a 3-0 win over Franklin College at home on March 19 of last year. It's also the first time they've earned consecutive wins since that Franklin match was followed by a 3-1 win over Indiana East two days later.

Midway (2-11) will look to stretch that win streak to three against the same IU East program when the teams meet in Richmond, Ind. Tuesday at 6 p.m.