ANGOLA, Ind. - It could be the biggest win in the two-year history for Trine University volleyball coach Jamie Wozniak as the Thunder defeated Olivet College 3-1 (20-25, 25-16, 25-11, 25-13) to earn Trine the fourth and final spot in the MIAA Conference Tournament on Senior Night. The victory assures the Thunder of their second winning season in the past three years as they now stand at 15-12 on the year and 9-7 in the conference.

It was a rough start for the Thunder in the first set as the Comets took control early on as Olivet led by as many as seven. The Comets would continue to roll in set number one as their lead grew to nine at 19-10. The Thunder scored five straight points to pull within four, but were unable to complete the comeback.

After struggling in the first set, the Trine players came alive and refused to allow the Comets to take a lead in the final three sets.

The second set saw the Thunder take the first two points. From there, Trine began to slowly extend their lead by scoring in clusters of points. Trine led by as many as 11, at 22-11. The Comets attempted to make it interested as they rallied off five straight points to pull within nine, but the Thunder finished off the set with the final two points.

On the back of the serving of freshman Carly Searles (Levering, Mich./Petoskey) the Thunder scored 10 straight points as they led 11-1 to start the third set. Searles at one point during the rally scored three straight aces, and then a play later added a fourth. Both teams traded rallies over the rest of the set, but the Thunder came up with the final two points including another ace, this time by senior Stephanie Pellegrom (Spring Lake, Mich./Spring Lake) to finish off set number three. In all, Trine had eight service aces in the set.

Set number four, much like the previous set, was all Thunder from the start. Trine scored the first three points and seven of the first nine to lead it 7-2. The Comets would pull within three, at 12-9, but Trine would again roll as they scored four straight points. Trine finished off the set by scoring nine of the final 12 points to send the Thunder to the MIAA Tournament.

Junior Betsy Irwin (Athens, Ohio/Alexander) came up big for the Thunder as she put down a game-high 19 kills while hitting .400. Irwin also had a game-high four blocks (two solo). Freshman Melanie Troyer (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Memorial) had a stellar night as she was just one kill shy of a double-double, finishing with 11 digs and nine kills. Senior Julie Kooienga (Hamilton, Mich./Hamilton) finished her final home game of her career with seven kills. Freshman Jordan Bell (Coldwater, Mich./Bronson) added in six kills and five digs while Searles finished the evening with a career-high six aces to go along with 12 digs and four kills.

Junior setter Sarah Radekin (Athens, Ohio/Alexander) also just missed a double-double. Radekin had one of her best all-around games of the season as she finished her night with a game-high 41 assists to go along with nine digs, five kills, three aces and two blocks. Sophomore Libero Darcy Crabtree (Gaston, Ind./Wes-Del) had a team-high 16 digs in the game.

The 14 total aces in the match tied a season-high for the Thunder. Trine hit an astounding .619 in the fourth set as they tallied 14 kills against just one error.

Trine recognized their five seniors between the second and third sets as Kooienga, Pellegrom, Andrea Diruzza (Alexandria, Ind./Alexandria Monroe), Abby Rothballer (South Bend, Ind./Clay) and Catie Triplet (Indianapolis, Ind./Cardinal Ritter) played in their final home game at Hershey Hall.

Trine will face defending national champ, and top seed, Calvin College in the first round of the MIAA Tournament on November 4. The tournament will be hosted by Calvin, with their match slated for 7:30 p.m., or 45 minutes after the first match between Hope and Alma.