KALAMAZOO, Mich. - It turned out to be the showdown they expected, but not the result they hoped for as the Trine University volleyball team dropped a hard fought five set match to Kalamazoo College 3-2 (25-18, 25-27, 25-21, 22-25, 15-9). The Thunder are now 14-11 on the year and 8-6 in the conference, with just a half game lead on the Hornets.

The entire match personified the term back-and -forth as the two squads traded sets. In the second set, Trine led 17-9 and Kalamazoo battled back to tie the set. Trine refused to allow the Hornets to take the lead as the Thunder pushed the set into extra points before closing out the set. The Thunder offense was rolling in the second set as they scored a game-high 18 of 27 points off kills

“Kalamazoo had a solid block all game and we were just not able to break it,” Coach Jamie Wozniak said. “Our girls played tough, but we just came up on the short end of the stick today.”

The freshman trio of Jordan Bell (Coldwater, Mich./Bronson), Carly Searles (Levering, Mich./Petoskey) and Melanie Troyer (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Memorial) stepped up and had a big game for the Thunder. Searles and Bell each had a season-high kills with 18 and 14 respectively. Searles also added in 14 digs while Bell had a game-high two aces. Troyer came up with her seventh, and second consecutive, double-double of the season with 15 digs and 14 kills. Junior Betsy Irwin (Athens, Ohio/Alexander) also had a solid game with nine kills.

Junior Sarah Radekin (Athens, Ohio/Alexander) also pitched with a double-double, her ninth, ending the afternoon with a game-high 49 assists and 11 digs. The 49 assists by Radekin are the second most this season. Sophomore Darcy Crabtree (Gaston, Ind./Wes-Del) came up big defensively as she had a game and team season-high 28 digs.

The 60 total team kills for the Thunder is the most they have had in a conference match this season.

Trine will have a steep hill to climb as they travel to defending national champion and top ranked Calvin College on October 26 at 6:30 p.m.