ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University women's volleyball team bested Hiram College in their first MIAA-NCAC Crossover by a score of 3-1. The Thunder secured a win in the team's first ever match inside of the MTI Center on Friday night.
Trine (2-3) hit .162 in the victory, a season-high. They also had season bests in kills and assists with 52, digs at 81 and 13 blocks. Hiram (2-3) was limited to a .112 hitting percentage.
The Thunder jumped ahead to an early lead at 6-1 in the first set with Catherine Dobies spotting an ace. Unfortunately for the host school, the Terriers went on a 12-3 run to claim a 13-9 advantage. Cassidy Victor showed out offensively with six kills in the first, but it was not enough to overcome the deficit as Hiram went on to win 25-19.
The second set went much more smoothly for Trine after hitting a match-high .189 in the 25-20 win. Madison Dominick had back-to-back kills mid-set that forced a Terrier timeout down 12-8. A block by Dobies and Jocelynn Nicholls gave them their largest lead of the set at 23-17 and the Thunder would eventually pick up the match-evening point.
In the third, Trine fell behind early at 6-1, and rallied back from a six-point chasm, 19-13. A string of six points in a row were highlighted by kills from Dobies, Francesca Queary, Olivia Jolliffe and Victor. Coming out of a Trine timeout trailing 22-20, the Thunder rattled off five points out of six to take a two-sets-to-one lead.
The fourth set saw the scored tied a total of 10 times, but ultimately Trine was able to wear down Hiram and get the home opening win. A 10-3 run allowed the Thunder to take a 20-16 edge and later on Kacie Van Kalker sent the fans home happy with a service ace, the team's seventh of the match.
Three nights after going for a career-high 12 kills, Victor topped that number once more with 16 this match. She also hit .385 as an individual with just one error on 39 attempts. Jolliffe was also in double figures with 10 kills. Kailee Cornell and Joslynn Battle dished out 30 and 14 assists to fuel the offense, while Van Kalker and Dobies helped the defense with 26 and 18 digs. Nicholls knocked down a total of seven opposing attacks, one of which coming on her own.
The Thunder are back on the court bright and early at 10 am Saturday morning versus the College of Wooster.