HANOVER, Ind. – The Trine University women's volleyball team started the Hanover Invitational on the right foot with a pair of wins against Franklin College and Wilmington College on Friday night. The Thunder were able to take down the Grizzlies in the opening match 3-1 and swept the Wilmington Quakers 3-0.

Trine moves to 7-5 in 2021 with three consecutive victories.

TRINE vs FRANKLIN RECAP:

The Thunder were efficient offensively in the first with 12 kills to one error in 25 attack attempts.

The first Trine points of the match were scored on a block assist by Chloe Behm [Albion, Ind. / Central Noble] and Hannah Sands [Jonesville, Mich. / Jonesville]. After being down 8-7 in the set, the Thunder roared for 10 consecutive points. Franklin was forced to take both timeouts during the onslaught, but to no avail.

Senior setter Jacqueline Baughman [Lake Orion, Mich. / Lutheran Northwest] was the server during the scoring spurt, with Olivia Jolliffe [Warren, Mich. / Cousino] leading the way with three kills and Sands chipping in with two. The Thunder would win the first in dominating fashion, 25-11.

Set two was back-and-forth, but Trine would go up 20-15 and force the Grizzlies into a timeout with a Baughman service ace. The gap would be enough for the Thunder to maintain in a 25-19 set two victory,

The opportunity for a sweep would go by the wayside in the third as Franklin was able to obtain a 25-16 win. Seven errors hampered the Thunder in the set, including three in a row that made it 8-2 Franklin.

Trine scraped their way back into the set, with aces by Kailee Cornell [Lafayette, Ind. / McCutcheon] and Samantha Carlin [Celina, Ohio / Celina], but a big six-point swing in the Grizzlies direction gave the set to Franklin 25-16.

The momentum-swinging fourth set was all square at 15 before Trine displayed their endurance with a 6-0 run to go up 21-16. Jolliffe was set up for three kills by Baughman, with her and Behm collecting a kill each in the run as well. The Thunder took advantage of an error by the Grizzlies to polish off a 25-22 victory.

69 team digs is the most for a four-set match this season, with a trio of Trine women getting into double-digits: Carlin (17), Baughman (14) and Rachel Campbell [Greenfield, Ind. / Greenfield Central] (12). Jolliffe contributed a season-high in kills with 18.

TRINE vs WILMINGTON RECAP:

Anna Loughrey [West Bloomfield, Mich. / Walled Lake Central] received a lot of first set attacks and had three kills in the first five Trine points. A five-point swing mid-set gave the Thunder a firm advantage at 20-14. Campbell contributed a service ace before Wilmington committed three straight errors. Behm finished the set with a kill, 25-18.

Kills by Sands, Jolliffe and Jocelynn Nicholls [Montgomery, Mich. / Camden-Frontier] highlighted the beginning of set two, as Trine ran away with a 25-14 victory. It was a string of 10 straight points by the Thunder that sparked the energy in the set.

The third set would be more of the same for Trine, as the Thunder went up 6-2 off of a pair of kills from Madison Dominick [Swartz Creek, Mich. / Swartz Creek]. Mikaila Sullivan [Terre Haute, Ind. / Terre Haute South Vigo] chipped in with back-to-back blocks to make it 13-9 mid-set. Cheyenne Hill [Castle Rock, Colo. / Douglas County] recorded a kill late in the match to seal the 25-19 set three win.

Nine blocks for the match was the most in any in 2021. The Thunder were led by Nicholls with two solos and one block assist. Nicholls also led Trine with nine kills in the match and Behm was credited with a .583 hitting percentage with eight kills.

Tomorrow's slate of games for Trine in the Hanover Invitational include a matchup with the host institution and the final match of the tournament against Barea College. Matches will take place at 10 am and noon.