The Belles had a hard fought match Thursday night, but just could not come through with the win. The team lost in five games to Bethel, 30-26, 19-30. 25-30, 30-22, 12-15.
Junior Amanda David Setter had 44 assists and 11 digs.
Anne Cusack Senior Libero led the team in digs with 25 digs.
In addition to their strong play, Kristen Playko was once again played like a team leader with17 kills, 12 digs and 2 block assists.
Coach Julie Schroeder-Biek was disappointed with the loss, but did have some encouraging words.
"This was a well fought match by both teams," she said. "Unfortunately, in the last game of the match, we really beat ourselves by missing 4 serves ... and, in the short game especially, you can't afford those kind of errors.
She did see improvement in the Belles' play, though.
"On the whole, I feel better about our play tonight than I do with how we played in our win against Tri-State earlier this week," Shroeder-Biek said. "Tonight, we competed."
Saint Mary's will take on Albion and Adrian in their second and third conference matches of the week tonight, at the Adrian Triangular. Albion has a record of 1-6 in the MIAA Conference with a 6-8 record overall. Adrian will prove to be tougher with a record of 4-2 in the MIAA Conference and 9-6 overall.
Saint Mary's is tied for third in the conference with Adrian, but anything can happen in the tri-team conference match ups. The match against Albion will start at 6 p.m. and will be held at Adrian. At 8 p.m. Saint Mary's will take on Adrian.
Senior outside hitter Kristen Playko believes the Belles are ready to handle the back-to- back games.
"Intensity and excitement always leads to a better performance, and most importantly having fun which always makes playing the game that much better," she said. "We just have to walk into the gym and step on the court ready to play."
