ANGOLA, IND.-- Trine will face Calvin in the MIAA Semifinals this Friday at Hope College's DeVos Fieldhouse with a trip to the MIAA Championship at stake.

The Thunder and Knights will square off at 5:30 p.m. Trine is the no. 3 seed after concluding conference play 12-4. The 12 wins marked a program-best since the school joined the MIAA and NCAA Division III in 2004. The Thunder are 24-5 on the season. Calvin tied for the league championship with Hope with a 15-1 MIAA mark, but earned the no. 2 seed due to head-to-head tiebreak rules. The Knights are 25-3 overall and are ranked no. 1 in the nation. The winner of the match advances to Saturday's MIAA Championship match at DeVos Fieldhouse.

The Trine attack is led by Taylor Rabel (Muncie, Ind./Muncie Central), who ranks fourth in the conference in averaging 3.58 kills per set. The junior has notched 10 double-doubles this season. Lauren Verkamp (Franklin, Ind./Franklin Community) stepped forward to average a career-best 2.48 kills per set this season. The Thunder have six players averaging 1.5 or more kills per set, and rank third in the conference in hitting percentage and kills per set.

Calvin boasts the top hitting percentage in the nation (.310), and averages more kills per set than any team in the country (14.29). Maggie Kamp leads the MIAA and rankes 10th in the nation in averaging 4.53 kills per set. Laura Danhoff's .399 hitting percentage leads the league. The Knights' top six hitters all hit at a .268 clip or better.

The match will feature two of the top setters in the conference. Trine's Carly Searles (Levering, Mich./Petoskey) fills the stat with 8.63 assists, 3.25 digs and 1.96 kills per set. The senior has notched six triple-doubles, and is a two-time MIAA Specialist of the Week. Calvin's Jenna Lodewyk leads the nation with 11.29 assists per set, and adds 2.37 digs per set.

The Thunder rank second in the conference in digs per set (16.94), and are led by Mikayla Carpenter (Huntington, Ind./Huntington North) in that area. The freshman has provided a big lift for Trine in her first season, averaging 4.83 digs per set- second in the conference. The Thunder rank sixth in conference in blocks per set, averaging a 1.45 clip.

Elise Biesboer averages 4.37 digs per set for Calvin, a mark that ranks fourth in the conference. Overall, the Knights rank sixth in the MIAA in digs per set. The Knights are fourth in the league in blocks, led by Danhoff's 0.87 blocks per set. Danhoff ranks fourth in the conference in that category.

The Knights swept both meetings this year. Kamp averaged 4.33 kills per set in the two meetings to lead the way, while Danhoff hit .462 and averaged 3.67 kills per set. Rabel averaged 3.50 kills per set for the Thunder.

The winner will face either no. 1 seed Hope or no. 4 seed Alma in the MIAA Championship, set to be held Saturday at 4 p.m. inside DeVos Fieldhouse.