SANDUSKY, Ohio – The Trine women's volleyball team wrapped up play at the MIAA/NCAC Crossover – "Battle at the Point" on Saturday with a 1-1 split, with a morning loss to the College of Wooster and a 5-set win against Hiram College. Overall, the Thunder were 2-1 on the weekend.
Game One Recap:
Trine got off on the right foot in the first set and ran away to a 25-22 victory. The Thunder were backed by 13 kills and four service aces. The first four points went Trine's way and the duo of Olivia Jolliffe [Warren, Mich. / Cousino] and Francesca Queary [Midland, Mich. / H.H. Dow] led the Thunder to a 10-4 advantage.
Down 20-14 late in the set, Wooster battled back and tied the score at 22, but the final three points of the first would be acquired by Trine to take the 1-0 lead.
Madison Dominick [Swartz Creek, Mich. / Swartz Creek] got in on the action offensively in the second with a pair of early kills, but the Fighting Scots would go on to even the match with a flurry of points late 25-17.
Anna Loughrey [West Bloomfield, Mich. / Walled Lake Central] got the scoring started in the third off a feed from Jacqueline Baughman [Lake Orion, Mich. / Lutheran Northwest], but it would be Wooster gaining an early advantage once again. Six errors and a negative hitting percentage would result in an avalanche win for the Fighting Scots in the third.
Jolliffe, Loughrey and Mikaila Sullivan [Terre Haute, Ind. / Terre Haute South Vigo] had big kills in the fourth set as the Thunder looked as though they could force a fifth set for the second consecutive game. Trine would be up 12-7 at one point, but the game would go back to even at 13 apiece a few moments later.
It was back-and-forth from there as Trine tried to keep the match alive. Samantha Carlin [Celina, Ohio / Celina] recorded a service ace to spark some life into the Thunder offense at 21-20, but Wooster was able to put the match away with a fourth set win 26-24.
Jolliffe was the team leader in kills with 14, Baughman distributed 30 assists, Carlin dug up 16 opposing attacks and Kailee Cornell [Lafayette, Ind. / McCutcheon] had three aces in the match.
Game Two Recap:
Set one was close as the teams felt each other out, but ultimately the Thunder jumped out to a 19-11 lead. A Cornell ace, followed by kills from Sullivan, Queary and Jolliffe started a string of Trine points. Following a Thunder timeout at 22-19, Trine scored three straight to take the set with Jolliffe and Chloe Behm [Albion, Ind. / Central Noble] kills and a Hiram error.
The Thunder took advantage of a pair of Terrier errors to take a 2-0 set two lead, but from there, it was all Hiram from then on as they cruised to a 25-14 win and evened the match.
Trine went for eight points in a row in the third set with four kills, two errors and two aces from Campbell. However, the Terriers turned around and accumulated seven consecutive points of their own to get back in the set. Hiram carried that momentum through to a 25-19 third set win.
Each team had 39 attacks in the fourth set, but it was Trine who made the most of their opportunities and were helped by three service aces. Behm converted back-to-back kills to take a four-point lead at 17-13 and the Thunder would not look back from there. Cassidy Victor [Fraser, Mich. / Fraser] and Sullivan each had kills to help get the match back to even in a 25-19 win.
The fifth set would be tight the entire way, with Trine holding a slight advantage to start. Hiram took the lead at 10-7 in the fifth, but the Thunder strung together six straight points to take control. Victor converted two attacks into points in the spurt, but Hiram fought hard until the very end. With the score knotted up at 14, Jolliffe and Baughman connected for the final two points in a 16-14 set win.
Trine combined for 11 kills out of the 16 points in the final set.
In total, Jolliffe led the way with 14 kills and Behm logged a season-high eight. Baughman assisted on 42 Thunder points in game two and Carlin had a team-high 27 digs.
Trine travels to Manchester for a non-conference affair with the Manchester University Spartans. First serve will be at 7 pm.