FRANKLIN, Ind. – The Trine University women's volleyball team went 0-2 Friday night with losses to Baldwin Wallace and Bethany W.V. in the Franklin College Tournament.
Against both the Yellow Jackets and Bison, the Thunder took it to five sets, but were ultimately defeated in the winner-take-all fifth in both matches. Trine falls to 8-8 overall.
TRINE vs BALDWIN WALLACE RECAP:
Trine jumped out to a 3-0 lead with Chloe Behm [Albion, Ind. / Central Noble] recording a kill and block with Hannah Sands [Jonesville, Mich. / Jonesville]. Baldwin Wallace unfortunately seized momentum, and fought off a 4-0 scoring spurt mid-set, highlighted by an Olivia Jolliffe [Warren, Mich. / Cousino] service ace, to win 25-20 in the first.
The second set was total dominance for the Thunder as Trine cruised to a 25-14 set two victory. Seven errors out of eight Yellow Jacket attempts forced the opponents to take a timeout with the score 15-8. Baldwin Wallace had 14 total errors in the set.
A 7-0 run early in the third allowed Baldwin Wallace to snatch an early lead, but a pair of ball handling errors and kills from Mikaila Sullivan [Terre Haute, Ind. / Terre Haute South Vigo] and Jolliffe kept Trine in the third set. The Thunder continued to utilize errors by the Yellow Jackets to their advantage, but came up just short at 25-19.
The theme of every other set continued in the fourth with the Thunder taking a close one 25-23. Jocelynn Nicholls [Montgomery, Mich. / Camden-Frontier] and Kailee Cornell [Lafayette, Ind. / McCutcheon] got scores early via a kill and service ace as Trine jumped out to an advantage 5-2. The Yellow Jackets would take the lead at 19-16 later in the set, but a timeout for the Thunder allowed them to regroup and secure the win on a Sullivan kill.
Jolliffe and Sullivan continued to score in the fifth frame for Trine, but a 6-1 string of scores for the Yellow Jackets was too much to overcome in a 15-11 defeat.
Jolliffe found herself with double-digit kills with eight and five kills plus six block assists for Behm led to eight points for the senior. Jacqueline Baughman [Lake Orion, Mich. / Lutheran Northwest] led the squad in assists (27) and Samantha Carlin [Celina, Ohio / Celina] in digs (18).
TRINE vs BETHANY RECAP:
In similar fashion to game one of the night, this was also a back-and-forth affair, with either team winning alternating sets. The first set went to Bethany 25-23, with seven different Thunder players recording kills in the set. Baughman notched back-to-back aces to make it 24-23, but the Bisons were able to hold on to take the first set.
Bethany took advantage of multiple errors to get out to an 11-6 lead in the second, but a pair of five-point swings in Trine's direction put the Thunder in front 17-16. Anna Loughrey [West Bloomfield, Mich. / Walled Lake Central] wrapped up play at 25-22 with a set-ending kill.
Momentum was swung Bethany's way with a sizable 25-14 set three win to take a 2-1 lead. It was the best hitting percentage for the Bison in a set for the match, combined with Trine's worst hitting percentage out of the five.
Trine countered a disappointing set with a phenomenal one, as the Thunder rattled off a match-high 14 kills in a 25-17 fourth set win. Just like in match one of the night, Trine was defeated 15-11 in set five as Bethany claimed victory over the Thunder.
Category leaders were once again Jolliffe with 13 kills, Baughman dished out 21 assists and Carlin had 25 digs.
Trine is back in action tomorrow for their first game at home in a tri-match against Kalamazoo and Manchester. The first game will be the conference opener as well, with first serve scheduled for 11 am. The Thunder and Spartans will square off later that day at 3 pm.