ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University women's volleyball team collected a victory on Wednesday night whilst celebrating their senior student-athletes 3-2 over the Alma College Scots. The win pushes their record to 10-14 overall and 2-5 in Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) play while Alma falls to 13-12 and 2-6.
The victory allows the Thunder to control their own destiny moving forward and with a win in their next match at The University of Olivet, would clinch a berth to the MIAA Tournament. Following the final regular season match at home, Trine would honor their four graduating seniors in Rachel Campbell, Meara Finnegan, Olivia Jolliffe and Anna Loughrey.
The night started strong for the Thunder with a 28-26 set one win. The teams would battle tooth-and-nail with neither side garnering more than a three-point lead. Down the stretch, it was a kill by Catherine Dobies that helped secure the win with extra points. Madison Dominick led the way with six kills in the first and Anna Zellers dished out a team-high 10 assists.
Alma jumped out to a quick lead in the second set 8-4, but Trine would turn the momentum around with a five-point scoring run that forced a timeout by the visiting Scots. The break would effectively allow Alma to regain the lead 16-14 to make head coach Jamie Wozniak utilize a timeout as well. The Scots would play well late in the second to even the match at one with a 25-18 set win.
Trine would dominate the third set and take advantage of 12 errors by the visitors to go ahead in the match 2-1 with a 25-13 victory. Dominick had four kills in the third set to lead the charge on offense and Finnegan was able to put the set to rest with a kill off a feed by Zellers.
Set four was a back-and-forth affair and when Cassidy Victor and Dobies gave Trine the lead at 15-14 with a four-point run, the Scots would get right back into it with four points of their own. The Thunder took timeouts trailing 18-15 and 23-20, but it was too little too late as Alma forced a decisive set five with a 25-22 win.
The Scots scored the first two points of the fifth set, but Trine turned the tables with seven of the next eight points. Finnegan was able to slam home a point to get to the 7-3 mark. Alma used a timeout to try to stop that run as well as when they were down 11-6, but the Thunder were able to hang on to nab the win, 15-11. Francesca Queary would be the one to score the match-winning point.
In total, it was Dominick leading the team with 15 kills and Dobies collected a double-double with 12 kills and 16 digs. Also in double figures for digs were Campbell (20) and Zellers (13). Zellers also just missed her career-high with 26 assists.
The final match of the regular season takes place on Friday, November 3 at Olivet. That match begins at 6:30 p.m.
