GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - In was night filled with tears of joy and sorrow as the Trine University volleyball senior duo of Betsy Irwin (Athens, Ohio /Alexander) and Sarah Radekin (Athens, Ohio /Alexander) fell in the final match of their careers 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 27-25) to the #2 ranked Calvin College. The Thunder fought the reigning conference champions to the very end as they exchanged leads 11 times throughout the match that saw 20 ties scores. The Thunder end their season with an overall record of 18-12.
The careers of Irwin and Radekin come to a close as the most prolific duo to come through Angola in the programs history, as the two leave as the school’s all-time leaders in kills (1,468) and assists (3,456). The duo led the Thunder to their first back-to-back winning seasons since 1986-87.
The opening set saw the Thunder take the opening point as the two sides exchanged serves early. Trine would lead 7-6, but the conference champion Knights would rally to score six of the next seven points to take a four point lead. Once again the two sides would exchange points as Trine was able to cut the Calvin lead to two at 17-15. The Knights would then score the final six points to take the set.
The second set was all Thunder early on as they raced to an 8-4 lead, but Calvin would again comeback, scoring five straight to lead 9-8. The Thunder would answer with their own rally, taking four straight to re-take the lead. From there though, Calvin would score 10 straight points to take the lead for good as the Thunder offense had just four kills the rest of the set.
For the first time on the night, Calvin took the opening point of a set in the third frame. The two sides fought back-and-forth throughout the set as the two teams traded leads four times as the Thunder tied the set 10 times. Calvin would score three straight to take a 19-15 lead, but once again the Thunder would fight their way back into it, down just two at 20-18. Again the two sides traded points, but Trine would tie the match and then take the lead at 24-23 after scoring five of six points. Calvin would score the next two points to take it to match point, but the Thunder would get the next point to again tie it 25-25. The Knights would take the next two points to take the hard-fought set and the match.
The Thunder were led by a pair of freshman in Taylor Rabel (Muncie, Ind./Muncie Central) and Lauren Verkamp (Franklin, Ind./Franklin Community) who each finished with 10 kills. Verkamp narrowly missed a double-double adding in nine digs as she tied a season-high in kills. Rabel also added in five digs.
Irwin finished her final game for the Thunder with five kills and two blocks. Radekin concluded her outstanding career with seven digs and five assists.
Freshman Carly Searles (Levering, Mich./Petoskey) earned her fifth straight and 20th double-double of the season with 20 assists and 11 digs while adding in three kills. Fellow freshman Stephanie Radandt (Walkerton, Ind./John Glenn) closed out the season with three kills and two blocks.
The 18 wins this season is the most by a Thunder program since the 1999 team won 28 games.