Trine Loses Volleyball Match to 4th Ranked Hope College

I had the opportunity on Wednesday evening to venture up to Trine University in Angola to cover the Thunder volleyball team, as they would be doing battle with the number 4 ranked Hope College Flying Dutch.

Coach Wozniak Gives Instructions to Her Players

Trine went into this match with a 5-2 MIAA conference record, and a 12-4 record overall. The Flying Dutch were 5-1 in the conference, and 13-2 overall. Hope’s only losses were at the hands of the number 2 & 3 ranked teams in NCAA Division III.

Up until last week, The Thunder were 12-2, with their only 2 losses being to Ohio Northern & Hiram, both non-conference opponents. But then last Friday & Saturday, Trine suffered back-to-back 3 games to none defeats at the hands of MIAA foes Alma & Calvin.

So a win over the highly ranked Flying Dutch would be just what the doctor ordered to “get the house back in order” before they would leave for a tourney in Washington D.C. this weekend.

The first game was a hard fought battle, but Hope would prevail by the score of 25-21. Trine got to 22-21 late in the game, but the Flying Dutch would score the final three points for the victory.

The second game wasn’t nearly as close, as Hope dominated throughout, and they would win by the score of 25-11.

The third game was more of the same, as The Thunder just couldn’t make a sustained run at the tough defense of Hope. The final would be 25-15, and Trine would drop to 5-3 in the conference, and 12-5 overall.

From my perspective, I felt that freshman Lauren Verkamp, as well as senior Betsy Irwin both played well for coach Jamie Wozniak’s Trine squad.

As I stated, The Thunder will be in our Nation’s capital this weekend playing in a tournament against Gallaudet College, Wheaton College, Marymount College, and a yet to be determined opponent.

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