OLIVET, Mich. - It was a dominating effort for the Trine University volleyball squad as they swept Olivet College 3-0 (25-15, 25-9, 25-15). The Thunder improve their record to 12-2 on the season and remain perfect at 5-0 in the MIAA.
In the opening set, the Thunder never trailed despite tallying just seven kills. The Thunder defense forced 12 attacking errors by the Comets. Trine scored the final six points of the set to jump out to the early lead.
The second set started out much closer than the score appeared as Olivet took the early lead. With the game tied at 5-5, the Thunder pulled off one of the most impressive runs, scoring 11 straight points to take a commanding 16-5 lead. Trine would score nine of the final 13 points and finish the set with 14 kills on just two errors for a .400 hitting percentage.
Olivet would again take the first points of the set, but Trine quickly answered back scoring six straight points to take a 6-1 lead and never look back. The Comets would close the gap to 10-9, but the Thunder would go on another run, this time outscoring Olivet 8-0 as Trine took the set and the match.
Four different Trine players recorded five or more kills as senior Betsy Irwin (Athens, Ohio /Alexander) led the way with nine kills on zero errors for a .474 hitting percentage. Freshman Lauren Verkamp (Franklin, Ind./Franklin Community) finishing the night with seven kills to go along with five digs. Sophomore Carly Searles (Levering, Mich./Petoskey) and freshman Stephanie Radandt (Walkerton, Ind./John Glenn) each tallied five kills. Searles led the Thunder with 15 assists while making seven digs. Radandt played outstanding defense at the net, finishing with a season-high six blocks (two solo).
Junior Darcy Crabtree (Muncie, Ind./Wes-Del) led the Thunder with a match-high 12 digs and senior Radekin (Athens, Ohio /Alexander) added in a game-high three aces.
Trine will head back out on the road on September 21 for a match at Alma set for 6:30 p.m.