ANGOLA, Ind. – On Saturday afternoon, the Trine University women's volleyball team celebrated the team's three graduating student-athletes in the team's final regular season match versus Olivet College. Prior to play, Kailee Cornell, Bethany Ulring and Joslynn Battle were honored for their accomplishments on and off the floor for Trine. The Thunder were able to make quick work of the Comets and defeated their opposition in three sets.
The win secured the number five seed for Trine heading into the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Postseason Tournament. The Thunder will travel to the four seed, Adrian College, on Tuesday, November 1 for the First Round match.
With the victory over Olivet, the Thunder wrap up the 2022 regular season at 12-10 overall, and 4-4 in MIAA action. The Comets finish their season at 4-21 and 1-7.
After dropping the first two points of the match, Trine scored the next five, including a block and kill by Jocelynn Nicholls and an ace by Cornell. Olivet was able to fight their way back to even at 11 all, but Olivia Jolliffe recorded a pair of kills that helped to spark a massive scoring run. Nine of the final 10 points in the first belonged to the home team. Francesca Queary and Cassidy Victor combined for two blocks and Battle found Catherine Dobies for back-to-back kills bookending an Olivet timeout that has no effect in the 25-15 thrashing. In total, Trine had a match-high .361 hitting percentage with only two errors.
The Comets were unphased by a rough first set and bounced back nicely in set number two. The visitors claimed an early lead at 13-8 before head coach Jamie Wozniak chose to take a timeout. An Olivet ace had the opponents in control at 18-13 before the Thunder were able to string together some points. Two Dobies kills and two errors gave Trine four in a row and Anna Loughrey helped get the set even at 21 with a kill. Coming out of a timeout by the Comets, Loughrey swung for a kill and had a solo block to put the team in position to go up 2-0. The combo of Victor and Queary were once again active in front of the net for the set-winning block at 26-24.
Momentum swung back and forth in the third set, with Olivet taking the lead at the beginning and a six-point run put Trine in front at 11-7. Nicholls and Jolliffe fueled the scoring run with one kill each and combined for a block. The score would be tied at 12, 14, 15, 16, 18 and 19 before the Comets notched three in a row and forced the Thunder to take a timeout with their backs against the wall at 22-19. Coming out of the break, Trine got four points in a row capped off by a kill by Joey VanMeter. A service ace by Kacie Van Kalker out of a timeout set up the match-clinching kill by Jolliffe to win 25-23.
Trine had 43 kills as a team, led by Dobies with 15 and a .519 hitting percentage. The .225 team hitting percentage is the fourth-highest in a match this season. At the net, the team had 10 total blocks, with six block assists credited to Queary and five to Victor. Battle distributed a team-high 20 assists, the second-best mark of her season. In the back row, Van Kalker was in double digits with 12 digs.
On Tuesday, November 1, the Thunder make the trip to Adrian College for the First Round of the MIAA Tournament beginning at 7 pm.
