ANGOLA, Ind. - It proved to be a near perfect night for the Trine University volleyball team as they trailed only twice in their three-set (25-17, 25-18, 25-18) sweep of Saint Mary’s College to open their home season and conference play. The Thunder improved to 4-1 on the season with the victory.
The first set saw the Belles take the first point of the match, but from there Trine would take an early 4-1 lead and never look back. The Thunder pushed their lead to seven at 11-6 after a Saint Mary’s hitting error. The Belles would cut the lead to one before the Thunder stormed back to push their lead back to four as they continued to extend their lead to the opening set win.
Trine ran away with the second set, never losing their lead after scoring the first four points. The two teams would trade points until near the end of the set when the Thunder rattled off seven of the final nine point as sophomore Melanie Troyer (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Memorial) laid down the set point.
Saint Mary’s took the first two points of the final set before Trine was able to rally back to tie the game at 2-2. Both teams would trade points as the game stayed tied at 7-7. From there though, the Thunder were able to score four straight points to that the lead for good. Trine’s lead grew to a match-high 10 points on a kill by freshman Taylor Rabel (Muncie, Ind./Muncie Central).
Rabel and senior Betsy Irwin (Athens, Ohio /Alexander) finished the game tied with a match-high nine kills. Rabel also finished the night with a game-high .412 hitting percentage and eight digs while Irwin led all players with four blocks. Sophomore Carly Searles (Levering, Mich./Petoskey) finished the night with six kills. Senior Sarah Radekin (Athens, Ohio /Alexander) dished out a game-high 25 assists.
Defensively, junior Darcy Crabtree (Muncie, Ind./Wes-Del) and freshman Lauren Verkamp (Franklin, Ind./Franklin Community) each added in six digs. Freshman Stephanie Radandt (Walkerton, Ind./John Glenn) knocked down four blocks.
Trine’s defense held the Belles to a negative hitting percentage for the game at -.027 compared to the Thunder who hit .232. The biggest different for the Thunder came at the net, as they knocked down 10 blocks for the game compared to just one for Saint Mary’s.
Trine won’t get much time off as they will host another conference opponent in Albion College on September 7 at 6:30 p.m.