Saint Mary's attained its third consecutive win Thursday as the Belles crushed conference rival Adrian in a 9-0 sweep. The Belles lift their record to 8-9, 3-3 MIAA as the Bulldogs fall to 5-12, 2-6 MIAA.
"It was nice to get another win, especially our third in a row," Belles coach Chuck Rubino said.
Thursday's win is the Belles second conference win in a row, the first being their 8-1 win over Tri-State on April 12.
Saint Mary's started off strong in the doubles division and made winning all three doubles matches look easy.
The Belles No. 1 duo of sophomore co-captain Camille Gebert and freshman Jillian Hurley took out Adrian's Robyn Bahr and Katelyn Simcina 8-4 for their ninth win of the season. Gebert and Hurley move to 9-8, 5-1 MIAA as Saint Mary's No. 1 doubles pair.
Sophomore co-captain Lisa Rubino and freshman Betsy Reed easily knocked out Katie MacFarlan and Leeann Brooks 8-0 in the No. 2 doubles match, putting them at 7-8, 3-3 MIAA. Freshmen Franca Peluso and Jessica Camp stepped up for the second time this week in No. 3 doubles for Saint Mary's, winning 8-0 over Emily Brede and Chrissy Kuss for their third match as a pair, moving Peluso and Camp to 2-1, 1-0 MIAA.
"We stepped up our doubles game," sophomore co-captain Lisa Rubino said. "We played really well today."
Saint Mary's continued its momentum into the singles division, a trend they started against Tri-State Saturday and have carried over into the match against Bethel Tuesday and versus Adrian Thursday.
At No. 1 singles, Gebert went up against the Bulldog's Simcina in a tough match that eventually led to Gebert asking for a line judge when she was up 4-3 in her second game. Gebert managed to come out successfully, winning 6-3, 6-3.
At No. 2 singles Hurley took out Bahr 6-0, 6-1 for her fifteenth win of the season, putting her at 15-2. Saint Mary's energy continued on the courts as No. 3 Reed defeated Brooks 6-1, 6-2, moving her to 8-8, 3-3 MIAA.
No. 4 Jessica Kosinski won her seventh match as she beat MacFarlan 6-2, 6-1, lifting her to 7-9, 3-3 MIAA. No. 5 Rubino quickly took out Brede 6-1, 6-0 for her eighth singles win, moving her to 8-8, 3-3 MIAA.
Freshman Laura Arnold played at No. 6 singles for the Belles for the second time this week, defeating Kuss 6-1, 6-0.
"This win will hopefully give us confidence going into Kalamazoo," coach Rubino said. "I expected Adrian to be a stronger team, but a win's a win. Kalamazoo is going to be tough competition."
Saint Mary's will take on Kalamazoo Saturday at 1 p.m. for their fourth home match this week. Kalamazoo is currently fourth in the MIAA with a 4-2 conference record, and 10-7 overall. Luckily for the Belles, the Hornets' No. 1 singles player Mary Atallah has been injured lately and not performing at her regular level.
"Kalamazoo is a big conference competitor," Lisa Rubino said. "We just hope to keep our success going."
