HUDSONVILLE, Mich. – The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) women's volleyball coaches have voted in the 2023 preseason poll. Of the nine MIAA squads, the Trine Thunder were selected as the number five squad heading into 2023.
Hope College was selected as the favorite heading into the year with 11 total points and five first-place votes. Just behind the Flying Dutch were the defending MIAA regular season and tournament champions, the Calvin University Knights, with 12 points and four first-place votes. Albion College (22 points) and Adrian College (32 points) were third and fourth in the coaches' poll and Trine was fifth overall at 35 points. Rounding out the rest of the conference were Kalamazoo College (47 points), Saint Mary's College (50 points), Alma College (54 points) and The University of Olivet (61 points).
The point totals are determined by votes cast by the association's coaches, who cannot vote for their own team, with low point total receiving the top spot.
One season ago, Trine and head coach Jamie Wozniak finished the year with a 12-11 overall record and the team was 4-4 in league play. The Thunder appeared in their fifth consecutive MIAA Tournament and dropped the Quarterfinal match to Adrian, 3-1. The team had one MIAA Athlete of the Week award winner in outside hitter Catherine Dobies on October 31. She led the team in kills with 183 last season.
Other top offensive players returning for Trine includes Cassidy Victor, Olivia Jolliffe and Francesca Queary. The trio combined for nearly 500 kills in 2022. Queary led the team in blocks with 71 total, including a team-high 13 solo blocks.
The senior class for Trine in 2023 includes Jolliffe, Anna Loughrey and Meara Finnegan. Rachel Campbell is a graduating junior for the Thunder this year and will join those three walking across the stage on graduation day.
Trine will open their season at the Great Lakes Crossover in Sandusky, Ohio on September 1-2. The Thunder square off with Case Western Reserve University and Suffolk University on the opening day and finish competition versus Bethany College and Allegheny College.