While the Saint Mary’s campus was quiet over fall break, the Belles volleyball team was in action playing a total of five matches over an eight-day period. The Belles soccer team also played three games in a seven-day stretch as the cross country team competed in one meet.
Elmhurst
The first team that the Belles volleyball took on was Elmhurst, who they played on Oct. 17, right before fall break began. While the Belles battled hard, they fell 3-1 against the Blue Jays.
Elmhurst jumped out early in the first set with a 25-18 win. Early on in the set, the two teams traded points with kills from both sides. The Blue Jays continued their control into the second set with a 25-18 win, but Saint Mary’s came back in the third set with a close 25-21 win. That forced a fourth set, but the Belles fell short 25-11.
Freshman outside hitter and defensive specialist Shannon Rudge led the Belles with eight kills while junior middle hitter Caroline Carens followed with seven kills of her own. Sophomore setter Giuliana Graczyk was a big asset to Rudge and Carens as she finished the game with 14 assists.
Adrian
The second team that the Belles faced off against was Adrian, who they played at home on Oct. 22. In this match, the Belles took a 3-2 win, moving them up to 13-7 on the season and 1-4 in the MIAA.
Saint Mary’s took the first set 25-19, but Adrian did not give up that easily taking the second set 25-23 and the third set 26-24. As they went into the fourth set, the Belles fought back to tie the score up at two with a 25-17 win. Now in the fifth set, the two teams battled it out for the win and the Belles prevailed with a 15-12 decisive victory.
Sophomore outside hitter Kalli Lewkowski and Rudge paved the way for the Belles as they each totaled 11 kills while Carens finished closely behind with 10.
The Belles traveled to Memphis, Tennessee, to face off against Wisconsin River-Falls, Millsaps and Rhodes in a tournament on Oct. 24 and 25.
Wisconsin - River Falls
Although coming off of the thrilling win over Adrian, Wisconsin - River Falls presented a challenge of another level, as they soundly beat the Belles 3-0.
Saint Mary’s took the early lead in the first set, but River Falls pushed back, adding on eight points at the end of the set to take the 25-23 win. The second set looked similar as the two teams traded points, but River Falls came out on top with a close 25-21 win. Saint Mary’s was not done fighting yet. In the last set of the match, River Falls prevailed with a 25-21 win, taking all three sets in close showdowns.
Millsaps
In their second match of the day, the Belles faced off against Millsaps and were once again swept 3-0.
The two squads exchanged rallies in the first set, keeping the score close throughout. Millsaps took the lead late in the set streaking for six points in a row to take the lead, which they wouldn't squander to take the set 25-21. Millsaps did not stop in the second set, holding their lead throughout its entirety for a 25-20 win. The final set looked similar as Millsaps maintained their lead from start to finish and took the final 25-19 win.
Rhodes
The final match of the weekend was against Rhodes on Oct. 25, when the Belles collected their first win of the weekend, in a hard-fought, five-set battle.
Saint Mary’s kicked off the first set with a 25-16 win thanks to the combined efforts of Lewkowski, Carens and senior middle and outside hitter Grace Braselton. Rhodes battled back in the second set to claim the close 25-22 win, but Saint Mary’s returned the favor with a 28-26 win in the third. Rhodes came back in the fourth set to take a 25-12 win, tying up the score but in the final set of the day. Saint Mary’s came out on top with a 15-12 win.
Overall for the weekend, Carens led with 35 kills over the three matches, Lewkowski followed with 32, Braselton finished with 12 and Rudge added 11.
The Belles now move to 14-9 on the season and 1-4 in the conference as they prepare to host Kalamazoo for Senior Say on Nov. 1 at 1 p.m.
The Saint Mary’s soccer team faced off against Alma, Albion and Trine over break.
Alma
In an extremely close matchup, Saint Mary’s traveled to Alma on Oct. 18 with the Belles winning 1-0 in a very rainy contest.
In a scoreless first period, the Belles and Scots battled equally to take the lead. As both teams tried to fight slippery conditions, Saint Mary’s led Alma 6-1 in the shot column. Saint Mary’s was able to find the back of the net in the second period thanks to a penalty kick goal from junior defender Brooke Baumann.
At the end of the game, the Belles led 12-7 in shots and 6-5 in shots on goal. The two teams were even as both goalkeepers had five saves for the game.
Albion
Coming back home for their second game over the break, the Belles faced off against Albion on Oct. 22, finishing in a 2-2 draw.
Starting the first period, Albion scored the first goal in the 4th-minute. About 12 minutes later, the Belles equalized as Baumann got on the board to tie up the score. Heading into the second period, Albion knocked in their second goal to take the 2-1 lead, but senior midfielder Grace Reyda leveled for the Belles with a double assist from sophomore defender Danielle Escobedo and senior defender Izzy Sherman. The two teams battled until the final moments, but the game ultimately ended with the teams sharing the spoils.
Trine
The final game over fall break was at Trine on Oct. 25, where the Belles would suffer a disappointing 4-1 defeat.
Trine scored all four goals in the first period, with their first being early on in the 4th-minute. They snuck by sophomore goalkeeper Keona Caraballo a minute later to make the score 2-0 and didn’t stop there. Trine found the back of the net again roughly 10 minutes later to go up 3-0. They scored their final goal of the period toward the halftime whistle, extending their lead to four. Saint Mary’s entered the scoresheet in the 84th-minute behind sophomore defender Isabella Kreydich.
As the Belles took the 4-1 loss, they fell to 8-4-3 on the season and 2-4-1 in conference. They will round out the regular season at Hope on Oct. 28 at 4 p.m.
Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble
Also over the break, the cross country team finished up their regular season as they competed in the Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble. The Belles finished in 13th place out of the 25 teams competing.
Three juniors led the way for the Belles as Savanna Paulson finished with a time of 24:06.5, Cecilia Conrad with 24:30.5 and Jordan Siminski with 24:35.8.
A freshman trio would follow them. Jackie Clemente finished with a time of 25:08.9, Katelyn Huber finished in 25:13.4 and Mary Caroline George ran closely behind with a time of 25:18.9.
Sophomore Allie Glendening finished with a time of 25:21.6 and following her were seniors Mary Weber and Isabella Auch who finished with times of 25:38.1 and 25:40.1, respectively. Freshman Sarah Couri rounded out the Belles’ finishes with a time of 25:45.4.
