ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University women's volleyball team wrapped up play in the MIAA/NCAC Crossover on Saturday with matches versus the College of Wooster and DePauw University. The Thunder made quick work of the Fighting Scots 3-0, but lost to the Tigers by a score of 3-2.
Women's volleyball is now 3-4 overall after a 2-1 weekend against schools from the North Coast Athletic Conference.
TRINE vs WOOSTER:
The Thunder made it look easy in the morning's first match against Wooster. Trine scored five of the final six points in the first set to win 25-19 and go up 1-0 in the match. Kailee Cornell distributed assists to Cassidy Victor and Francesca Queary on back-to-back side outs to seal the victory. The Thunder had 14 kills in the set, a high for the match and Victor was credited with seven of them.
Massive scoring runs in set number two allowed Trine to get ahead and never turn back. The Thunder stepped on the gas in a 25-11 set two win. Five aces aided in the two-set advantage, distributed among Cornell, Joslynn Battle, Olivia Jolliffe and Kacie Van Kalker. Joey VanMeter and Meara Finnegan had late kills in the set to contribute in scoring as well.
Catherine Dobies etched her name in the ace column as well with a well-placed serve early in the third. A six-point scoring run for Trine forced the Fighting Scots to call for time down 9-2. The lead grew to the largest in the set at 10-2. Bethany Ulring, Cheyenne Hill, Aleena Keh and Maya Toma each made their presence felt offensively as the Thunder went on to win set three 25-20 and the match 3-0.
In total, Victor finished with a team-high nine kills after dominating set one. She hit .421 on 19 attempts. Cornell had 19 of the squad's 32 assists and Van Kalker had 19 digs from the back row, the only student-athlete in double figures.
TRINE vs DEPAUW:
The matchup with the Tigers was one that shifted on every set. The first saw Trine play well early to build a foundation and cruised to a 25-18 win. A 5-1 run from the start forced DePauw to use their first timeout and a Cornell ace later on gave the Thunder their largest lead at 18-8. Queary and Victor combined for a block to finish off the first set.
Trine got out to an early lead once more in the second by going up 8-2 on a Victor kill and again making the Tigers utilize a timeout. This one would be more effective for the team as they would tie the set up at 16. The opponents would hold off a Thunder scoring spree late and get away with a 25-23 set win.
DePauw took full control in set three and went on to take the two-sets-to-one edge, 25-14. The Tigers utilized nine errors while committing only one themselves. Trine trailed at one point 16-6, but tried to make a comeback fueled by a couple of kills by Dobies.
Toma was inserted into the Thunder lineup in the fourth set to provide a spark and did just that with a kill to open the set. Trine netted the first five points of the fourth and went up 22-10 with an ace by Rachel Campbell. Three straight kills for Thunder attackers sent the match to a deciding fifth set. Victor had two of those and Dobies polished off the victory off a feed from Van Kalker.
In the fifth, the two teams played even thanks to Queary and Dobies and their combined three points to make it 8-7 DePauw. Toma was able to get back in the scoring column to inch within one again at 11-10, but the Tigers pulled away with four consecutive points to close the set and pick up the win.
Victor and Dobies were catalysts on offense with 14 and 13 kills, respectively. On defense, four Trine players had double-digit kills. Van Kalker led the way with 25, while Cornell (14), Campbell (11) and Dobies (10) followed. Victor and Queary were in on three block assists.
Up next, women's volleyball plays at home on Tuesday, September 13 against Defiance College. First serve is scheduled for 6:30 pm.
