ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University women's volleyball returned to their home court inside Hershey Hall on Tuesday night for a non-conference match against the Defiance College Yellow Jackets. The Thunder were able to top Defiance in the match three-sets-to-one.
Sophomore outside hitter Francesca Queary recorded 18 kills on 23 attempts Tuesday to hit .739 in the match, a new school record. The previous record was held by Melissa Blake in a match against Olivet College back in 2005. Her statline read 18 kills, two digs, four blocks (two solo) for 21 points on the night.
Trine advanced to 4-4 on the season and Defiance was sent to a 1-9 overall record.
In set one, the Thunder were dominant. Trine scored the first seven points, and server Kailee Cornell notched three aces in the run. The home team went on two separate four-point runs as well to claim a 15-6 advantage, ending on an ace by Kacie Van Kalker. The Yellow Jackets were forced to use their second timeout of the set after Trine went on another scoring spree to go up 22-7. Joslynn Battle and Catherine Dobies entered their names into the ace column as well, giving Trine six in the first set alone. Dobies also contributed four kills and three digs in the first.
Set number two would look the total opposite as 11 errors would derail the Thunder's chances at a sweep. Defiance took the second set 25-23 after a 6-1 Yellow Jacket run put the team ahead 18-14 and the visitors remained in front from there. At this point, Trine had a diverse offensive attack. Queary and Madison Dominick each had six kills to lead the team, with Dobies, Olivia Jolliffe and Cassidy Victor close behind.
New names and faces got involved for the Thunder in set number three as Anna Loughrey, Meara Finnegan, Maya Toma and Aleena Keh supplemented the dominant performance up front by Queary. The team had 17 kills, a team-high for the match, seven of them coming from the sophomore in the third. Loughrey had four in the set, followed by Finnegan with three, Toma with two and Keh with one. The team scored 13 of the final 16 points in a 25-17 victory.
The fourth set also belonged to the Thunder by a score of 25-19. Trine took advantage of seven Yellow Jacket errors and were 65% on sideouts. Queary continued to be a menace near the net and tallied five more kills, including the match-winner. Loughrey added four to her total as well, giving her eight kills in the match.
Setters Cornell and Battle orchestrated the offense beautifully all evening as the team had 58 total kills, a season-high. Cornell had 26 assists and Battle credited with 19. Van Kalker dug up a team-high 23 opposing attacks. Jolliffe was in double figures as well with 12. The team finished with 13 aces, the most in a match this season.
Next up, Trine hits the road in the Ohio Wesleyan Tournament in Delaware, Ohio on September 16-17. The first match for the Thunder will be on Friday against Bethany College at 5 pm.