The Alma College Volleyball team traveled to Hershey Hall in Angola, IN on Saturday to take part in the Trine University Tri-Match. The Scots dropped both contests on the afternoon, falling to the host Thunder in a thrilling five-set match 3-2 (16-25,28-25,25-20,25-19,6-15) before being defeated by Defiance College (OH) 3-0 (22-25,13-25,14-25).

Following the tri-match, Alma is now 8-9 on the year and 4-2 in MIAA contests. The Thunder (8-2, 4-2 MIAA) will take on the Yellow Jackets (8-6) at 6:00 p.m. in the tri-match finale.

Match one: Trine University

A ball-handling error would give the Scots the 1-0 lead in the first set but Trine would quickly answer with an 8-1 run to take the 8-2 lead in set one.

The Thunder would then string together four-straight points to extend the advantage 15-4. Alma then answered with a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to six at 16-10.

The Scots would be unable to close the gap, and fell in the first set 25-16.

Similar to the first set, Alma would find itself down early in set two, falling behind 10-4.

The Scots would keep close throughout the rest of the set and a kill by So. OH/DS Sasha Laykova (Ternopil, Ukraine/Forest Hills Northern) brought Alma within three at 13-10.

Alma would be unable to cut the deficit anymore, and fell in set two 25-18.

The third set was a different story for the Scots, as two ball-handling errors gave them the early 2-0 lead.

Following a Trine point, Alma took the early 4-1 leads thanks to two more errors by the home team.

With the score tied at 15-15, an ace by Jr. OH/MH Maggie Miller (Frankfort/Frankfort) followed by back-to-back kills by Jr. OH/DS Hannah Guilford (Hartland/Hartland) would put the Scots on top 18-15.  Laykova would connect on a kill from a pass by So. S Mary Dulzo (Novi/Mercy) then followed it up with a service ace to give Alma the 25-20 victory in set three.

The fourth set was battle from the beginning, midway through the score showed 10-10 with neither team being able to pull away.  The Scots would score the next four-straight points to take the 14-10 lead to force a Thunder timeout.

Alma was able to maintain its lead for the remainder of the set, and the connection of Dulzo to Laykova would end the set 25-19 to tie the match up 2-2.

Trine jumped out to an early 6-0 lead in the deciding set and the Scots would be unable to recover, dropping the final set 15-6 and the match 3-2.

Guilford led Alma with 16 kills while adding 11 digs and Dulzo was tops on the team with 34 assists and 17 digs in the loss.

Game two: Defiance College (OH)

In the second match, the Scots found themselves down 4-0 early in set one. A ball-handling error followed by a kill by Guilford would bring Alma within two at 8-6.

Down 11-7, the Scots scored four straight to tie the first set up 11-11.

The set would then see six more ties, with the final one coming at 22-22. The Yellow Jackets would close out the set on a 3-0 run to take the 25-22 victory.

In set two, Defiance held the lead from the very first point to claim the 25-13 win and take the 2-0 set advantage.

Following a 3-0 lead by the Yellow Jackets in set three, Alma would cut the deficit to one at 5-4 after a kill by Fr. RS/S Dakota Pelach (Gaylord/Gaylord) off an assist by Fr. MH Kara Muxlow (Brown City/Brown City).

One point would be the closest the Scots would get for the rest of the set, dropping the set 25-14 and the match 3-0 on Saturday.

Dulzo led Alma with 11 assists and two service aces while Laykova chipped in with a team-high five kills with seven digs.

The Scots return home to the Art Smith Arena on Wednesday, Sep. 24, when they welcome MIAA-foe Calvin College for a match at 6:30 p.m. Live stats and video for this match can be found by clicking here.