NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Trine University women's volleyball team was able to secure a home match in the 2021 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Tournament on Wednesday with a victory at Saint Mary's College, 3-1.
The win puts Trine at 16-14 on the season, and 5-2 in MIAA action. Saint Mary's falls to 7-13 and 2-5.
10 errors doomed Trine in the first set, as Saint Mary's ended the opening stanza with a seven-point scoring run that two timeouts could not halt. The Belles were able to connect for 13 kills to take the opener 25-20.
The tide would turn in the second set however as the Thunder were finally able to build some momentum. Hannah Sands [Jonesville, Mich. / Jonesville], Anna Loughrey [West Bloomfield, Mich. / Walled Lake Central], Jocelynn Nicholls [Montgomery, Mich. / Camden-Frontier] and Olivia Jolliffe [Warren, Mich. / Cousino] all had kills in the early goings to give Trine a slight 7-5 lead.
Chloe Behm [Albion, Ind. / Central Noble] notched a kill that started a 5-1 scoring run to spark a 10-4 run to end the set. Samantha Carlin [Celina, Ohio / Celina] had a pair of aces en route to the 25-18 set two win. The Thunder tallied 16 total kills in the second, a huge bounce back performance to keep Trine in it.
Loughrey was key for Trine in a 25-19 victory in set three. She swung for four kills, including three in the midst of a 7-2 scoring spurt mid-set. Of note, Carlin was able to reach 500 career digs in just her freshman season during the third set.
The Thunder put the match to bed via a 25-20 win in the fourth set. Jolliffe had four kills to allow Trine to jump out to a 10-7 edge. A pair of service aces from the sophomore capped a 9-2 run to go up 15-9. The Thunder finished the fourth set with a 25-22 score.
Jolliffe, Sands and Loughrey led the way offensively with 14, 13 and 13 kills, with Baughman assisting on 46 total points. Sands had the team's highest hitting percentage at .429. Carlin led the way with 20 digs.
Senior day is next on the schedule for the Thunder on Saturday, October 30 at 1 pm against Albion College.