ADRIAN, Mich. - It's always tough to go on the road, but the Trine University volleyball team pulled off a hard-fought victory over conference foe Adrian College, 3-1 (25-20, 27-25, 23-25 and 25-22). The Thunder are now 2-6 on the season and 1-1 in MIAA play.

In the first set with Adrian leading 6-5, the Thunder rallied off six straight points to take the lead at 11-6 and never looked back. The second set was the opposite of the first. It was Adrian who battled back to take the lead, and at one point scoring 10 straight points to lead 17-10. However, the Thunder would again fight back scoring 11 of the next 12 points to regain the lead at 24-23 and eventually the set.

In the third set, the Thunder once again jumped out to the early lead scoring seven consecutive points to lead 10-1. Adrian fought back going on their own run while netting eight unanswered points tying the match at 13. Both teams battled back-and-forth throughout the remainder of the set. Adrian finally stole one when they tallied the final three points to take the set that saw seven lead changes and 10 tie scores.

The fourth and final set was hotly contested throughout as neither team was able to string together a lead of more than four points when Trine led 20-16. Freshman Melanie Troyer (Elkhart, Ind./Elkhart Memorial) finally put the Bulldogs away for good with the game-winning kill.

Junior Betsy Irwin (Athens, Ohio/Alexander) led the Thunder with a game-high 17 kills and an outstanding hitting percentage of .454, while adding in four block assists. Troyer also had a solid game with her third double-double in five games tallying 11 kills and 11 digs. Fellow freshman Jordan Bell (Coldwater, Mich./Bronson) added in nine kills while dropping in a team-high five service aces.

Junior Sarah Radekin (Athens, Ohio/Alexander) led the Trine offense with a game-high 37 assists while making 14 digs.

On the defensive side, sophomore Darcy Crabtree (Gaston, Ind./Wes-Del)  netted a season and game-high 25 digs while adding in three aces.

Trine will head back out on the road as they travel to Albion College on September 14 for a 6:30 p.m. match.