HOLLAND, MICH.-- Trine gave the no. 1 team in the nation all they could handle, but fell to Calvin 3-1 (25-23, 21-25, 25-22, 25-23) in the MIAA Semifinals Friday night at DeVos Fieldhouse.
Trine battled the no. 1 Knights to the brink in each set, but Calvin made just enough plays down the stretch in each of their set victories to advance to the MIAA Championship. Maggie Kamp and Laura Danhoff each notched 15 kills to lead the Knights. Kamp entered the match hitting at a .310 clip, but was held to an .079 percentage on the evening. The two teams combined for 192 digs. Taylor Rabel (Muncie, Ind./Muncie Central) led the Thunder with 14 kills, and added 13 digs for her 11th double-double of the season. Carly Searles (Levering, Mich./Petoskey) played a solid all-around match with eight kills, 39 assists, and 24 digs. Trine falls to 24-6. Calvin improved to 26-3, and will play for the MIAA title Saturday.
Olivia Deck (Lansing, Mich./Grand Ledge) notched a season-high 11 kills and hit .276 for the Thunder. Lauren Verkamp and Megan Verkamp (Franklin, Ind./Franklin Community) each notched eight kills, with Lauren adding 18 digs.
Ellie Diepersloot added 10 kills for the Knights. Jenna Lodewyk notched 48 assists and eight digs. Elise Biesboer picked up a match-high 28 digs.
The first set of the night was a back-and-forth affair, with each team trading mini-rallies throughout and neither team leading by more than four. The Knights held the biggest lead at 16-12, before a four-point Trine rally capped by a Bridget Marlow (Trafalgar, Ind./Indian Creek) ace knotted the score. The Thunder would go on to lead by 20-18 after a Searles kill, but the Knights had an answer. Calvin broke open a 23-23 score late to earn the victory behind kills from Danhoff and Stacie Kamp.
Trine continued to give the Knights fits in the second set, playing close until a four-point run gave the Thunder the lead for good. Trailing 18-17, Trine got two big kills from Deck and an ace from Annie Phillips (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville). That was part of an 8-3 run to close the set as the Thunder got kills from Laura Hartman (Laingsburg, Mich./Laingsburg), Rabel and Megan Verkamp (Franklin, Ind./Franklin Community) to close out a 25-21 victory to even the match up at 1-1.
The third set saw more of the same. The Thunder broke open a 5-0 lead, which was immediately answered by a seven-point Knight rally. Neither team led by more than three the rest of the way. The Knights broke open a 22-all tie late, as they got a kill from Ellie Diepersloot and forced a pair of Trine attack errors to go up 2-1.
The Knights showed resolve in coming back from a seven-point deficit in the final set. Calvin eventually tied things up at 23-23 on an ace by Lodewyk. Back-to-back kills by Maggie Kamp and Danhoff closed out the victory for the Knights.
Trine will await a potential selection the NCAA Tournament. The field will be announced Monday at 11 a.m.
The Thunder have been ranked in two of the three NCAA Regional rankings this year, and have a 3-5 record against regionally-ranked opponents. Five of Trine's six losses have been to the top two teams in the nation.