ANGOLA, IND. -- The Trine volleyball team kept it close with nationally-ranked Calvin College but were ultimately defeated 3-1.
The Thunder came out strong in the first set winning the first two points of the match. They would hold a lead or a tie score until the Knights finally took a 10-9 lead. Calvin would build that lead up to 18-12. A service error by the Knights would lead to freshman Sarah Toles (Kendallville/East Noble) moving into the serve where the Thunder would take the next two points to bring the score to 18-15. The Knights would take the majority of the rest of the set to win 25-17.
The Thunder built on the good things they did in the first set, in the second set where they build an early 10-5 lead and forcing Calvin to call its first timeout of the contest. But Trine would continue to trade points with Calvin coming out of the timeout building the score to 20-15 in favor of the thunder. Calvin would close the gap behind the play and serving of Jenna Lodewyk pulling to down by just one point. Freshman Emma Gaff (Hamilton/Hamilton) would go on to score two of the last five points for the Thunder to give them the 25-23 set victory.
The third set would once again be a back and forth affair, but Calvin would hold the lead or a tie score throughout the set to eventually win 25-23. In the fourth set, the nationally-ranked Knights pulled away from the Thunder to win the set 25-12 for the 3-1 match victory.
Gaff would lead the Thunder with 10 kills in the match. Toles, with one solo block and four blocking assists, and junior Shannon Scott (Vicksburg, Mich./Vicksburg), with five blocking assists, would lead the impressive Thunder blocking in the match. The team would finish with 14 blocking assists and a solo block in the match.
The Thunder will next compete on Friday, Oct. 6 when they travel to Hope College for a 6:30 p.m. match.