ANGOLA, IND.-- After dropping the first set to St. Mary's, Trine rallied back to earn the four-set victory over the Belles and extend their winning-streak to six Tuesday evening in Hershey Hall.
The 3-1 (19-25, 25-18. 25-16, 25-22) victory improves Trine's record to 19-3, the most wins by a Thunder team since 1999. A balanced attack paced the victory, with five players recording seven or more kills. Megan Verkamp (Franklin, Ind./Franklin Community) notched a team-high nine kills for Trine. St. Mary's was led by Melanie Kuczek with 13 kills. The Thunder recorded a season-high 14 blocks. The loss dropped the Belles to 11-9 overall and 6-6 in the MIAA. The Thunder are now 8-3 in conference matches.
Annie Phillips (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) continued her strong play of late with an eight kill performance. Carly Searles (Levering, Mich./Petoskey) notched eight kills, 15 digs and 26 assists. Lauren Verkamp (Franklin, Ind./Franklin Community) and Olivia Deck (Lansing, Mich./Grand Ledge) each added seven kills. Deck made her presence at the net felt with a solo block and seven block assists.
Katie Schneider notched a double-double, with 12 kills and 11 digs for St. Mary's. Leah Buck added seven kills on a .727 hitting percentage. Five Belles reached double-digits in digs, led by Meaghan Gibbons with 23 digs. The Belles notched 78 digs to Trine's 68.
SMC came out hot, hitting .316 in the opening set to snap a 15-set winning-streak for the Thunder. The Belles held Trine to an .091 hitting percentage in the opening set. The Belles trailed just once, and closed on a 6-1 run to go up 1-0.
The Thunder came out energized in the second set, and raced out to a 9-0 lead with Bridget Marlow (Trafalgar, Ind./Indian Creek) holding serve. Megan Verkamp notched three kills during that hot start. The Belles weren't able to get closer than three the rest of the way.
Trine raced out to a 10-3 lead in the third set, which was too much for SMC to overcome as they could get no closer than four the rest of the set.
The final set wasn't decided until late, as the two teams entered the stretch tied at 22-apiece. Back-to-back kills by Lauren Verkamp and Deck gave Trine the two-point advantage. An attack error by the Belles provided the Thunder with match-point.
Trine returns to action this Friday, when travel to Adrian for a 6:30 p.m. match.