Despite strong performances in spurts, the Belles dropped a match to visiting Alma in a 3-1 decision Wednesday night.
Saint Mary's (2-6, 1-3 MIAA) was coming off its first conference win of the year against Olivet, but failed to uphold that momentum against the Scots (6-2, 3-1), who managed to outlast the Belles in a series with big scoring runs.
Alma scored the first five points of the first set before Saint Mary's closed the gap to just one. Alma went on to score the next eight points, and ultimately won the set 25-16.
The second set featured a back-and-forth battle before the Belles emerged victorious off a kill by freshman outside hitter Kati Schneider.
This would be the only win for the Belles, however, as the Scots prevailed in the next two sets. Saint Mary's did not go down without a fight in the fourth and final set, which featured nine ties and six lead changes.
For Saint Mary's, Schneider shared match-high honors with senior middle hitter Shelby Gray of Alma with 13 kills, and Schneider added 13 digs. Junior outside hitter Stephanie Bodien was right behind Schneider with 12 kills and 10 digs of her own, while senior libero and defensive specialist Meghann Rose bolstered the defense and reached match-high honors with 28 digs. Freshman setter and defensive specialist Annie Bodien contributed 13 of the Belles' total 82 digs.
Saint Mary's has nearly a week to prepare for its next game, when the Belles travel to take on in-state conference rival Trine on Sept. 20th.
