ANGOLA, Ind. – Four Thunder defenders posted double digit digs as the Trine University Women's Volleyball team took down Adrian on Tuesday night in Hershey Hall. The Thunder took the match 3-1 and improved to 22-5 on the year, Adrian finishes 7-13. With the win, Trine advances to Friday's MIAA Semifinals.
 
Julia Maggio and Kacie Van Kalker each had 18 digs to lead the Thunder defense, while Catherine Dobies added 17 and Anna Zellers had 10 more to go with 22 assists. Trine added nine blocks to solidify a dominating defensive performance. Emmaline Leatherman had three block assists, Madison Dominick had a solo and three assists, and Francesca Queary had a pair of solos and a trio of assists. The Thunder allowed a .072 hitting percentage by the Bulldogs. Queary and Leatherman each added 10 kills on hitting percentages of .429 and .563, respectively.
 
Trine started fast in set one, grabbing leads of 9-4 and 17-9 before taking the set 25-13 behind five kills from Leatherman and three more from Queary.
 
The Bulldogs returned the favor in set two, leading wire to wire. Trine pulled within four late, but the visitors would slam the door with a kill and take the frame 25-20.
 
Set three was a slug fest early on, the teams swapped the lead four times and were tied on five separate occurrences, the last coming at 7-7. The Thunder defense forced two attacking errors and Dobies sent home a pair of aces to take a 13-7 lead they would not relinquish. Trine kept the advantage between six and eight points the rest of the way before taking the set 25-16.
 
The final stanza started nearly identical, featuring seven ties and three lead changes as the score again reached 7-7. Queary notched a kill, Van Kalker followed that with an ace and a kill, Dobies added another before Leatherman teamed up with Cassidy Victor for a block. The block made the score 13-7 and the rout was on, Trine raced away behind five kills from five different players and an ace from Maya Toma to win the set 25-14.
 
Trine will head to Holland, Michigan to take on #2 Hope College on Friday night for a spot in the MIAA Championship Game. That match is set to start at 7:00 p.m.