Saint Mary’s College volleyball continues to have one of its best seasons thus far, staying undefeated following their Tuesday matchup with Franklin University. The Belles played a tough game against the Grizzlies and worked hard for every point, ultimately pulling out a 3-1 win and extending their record to 8-0 overall, while Franklin fell to 5-7.
The first set was a slow start with both teams struggling to score more than a couple of points at a time; however, the Saint Mary’s offense and defense remained aggressive throughout the slow set. Junior middle hitter Caroline Carens was an easy find for her setter, sophomore Giuliana Graczyk, and aggressively scored five kills in the first set, hungry to beat her career match high. Defensively, freshman outside hitter and defensive specialist Shannon Rudge controlled the back of the court, picking up balls that were destined to hit the ground. Her all-out effort earned her three digs to start the match, as Saint Mary’s took the first set 27-25.
Much like many of the other matches the Belles have played in this year, they were very slow to start the second set, allowing the Grizzlies to gain an eight-point lead. In response, Saint Mary’s used key offensive players such as Carens, Rudge and senior middle hitter Grace Braselton to close the gap and control the net going into the third set. From the back row came more explosive plays from senior libero Karli Fegan and senior outside hitter and defensive specialist Delaney Martin toward the end of the set to make Franklin work harder for their kills. With all-out efforts combined, the Belles were able to gather some points before the end, while the Grizzlies took the set 25-21.
The third set was what we expected to see from Saint Mary’s volleyball: consistent, aggressive and strategic plays. Fegan continued to be sporadic, yet controlled in the back court, working with junior setter Abby Reese to keep Franklin's swings off the ground. The Belles also controlled the net toward the end of the set, being the key reason why they won the set 25-21. The offense was big at the net, scaring the Grizzlies from taking bigger swings, causing them to have five attack errors that pushed the momentum towards Saint Mary’s. Carens and Rudge remained aggressive at the net, totaling 19 kills in the match by this point.
The fourth set was nothing short of a test of grit and determination from both teams. The Belles started the set extremely strong, with multiple members of the offense, such as Martin, sophomore outside hitter Kalli Lewkowski, Carens and Braselton stacking up kills, creating a nine-point lead and a score of 22-13. However, Franklin’s fight was far from over, as the Grizzlies continued their aggressive plays, going on a 9-1 scoring run and forcing Saint Mary’s to use both of its timeouts. After stressfully exchanging points, the Belles were able to take the penultimate point with a kill from Lewkowski and the final point from a monster swing by Braselton.
Carens led the team with 15 kills, while Lewkowski had eight. Reese would have 19 assists, and Graczyk would be close behind with 18. Three Belles would have double-digit digs, with Reese leading the group with 12, and Martin and Fegan close behind with 11 each. Braselton would also lead the night with three blocks for her team.
Weekend preview
With Saint Mary’s sitting at 8-0 after their win over Franklin, the Belles are in good shape to keep their win streak going with their weekend matches against Dominican University on Friday and Grinnell College on Saturday, followed by Beloit College later that afternoon. The Belles have the highest record of these teams; however, that doesn’t mean that it will be easy to secure wins.
In all but their first game this season, Saint Mary’s has given up at least one set to its opponents. In order for the Belles to be successful this weekend, they need to play significantly more aggressively than they have been. During the games, when Saint Mary’s is down, it plays very timidly, keeping its swings less aggressive than normal and running plays that are more textbook than creative. The Belles have very aggressive front-row players such as Carens, who has 114 kills on the season so far, and Rudge, who has 70, while they are backed by Fegan, who has 138 digs on the season, and Rudge, who has 93.
On the other hand, all three teams the Belles play this weekend have much less successful statistics. Dominican, hosting Saint Mary’s on its homecoming night, has senior defensive specialist and outside hitter Veronica Henkel, who has scored 37 kills and eight aces on the season so far. Henkel is backed by sophomore defensive specialist and libero Fabina Pizzo, who has 54 digs, and freshman setter Karolina Stonkus, who has connected with her hitters very consistently this season and earned herself 109 assists.
On Saturday the Belles will face off against Grinnell College first, which will force Saint Mary’s to be on their A-game. The Pioneers are led by freshman outside hitter Leticia Machado, who has 86 kills on the season so far, thanks to her junior setter Kylie-Ann Smith, who has 221 assists. Grinnell College also has a tough back row, which is led by sophomore defensive specialist Grace Lim with 113 digs, which means that the Belles will have to mix up their shots if they want to secure points during the match.
Lastly, Saint Mary’s will play Beloit, who has had a difficult start to the season with a 2-5 record. Despite their win-loss ratio, the Buccaneers have strong players, such as junior middle Naomi Murphy, who has 39 kills, sophomore defensive specialist Adelaide Schmitt with 82 digs and freshman setter Aaliyah Gerard with 87 assists.
First serve is Friday at 8 p.m. at Dominican University.
