Senior Jeannie Knish was able to sum up her team's performance in Saturday's match against Adrian in one word: domination. "We expected to dominate, and we pretty much did," said Knish, who played a big role in the Belles' 9-0 dismantling of Adrian in its first conference game of the year. "We worked really well as a team. I mean, the girls were some of the nicest we've played with, and they really played hard, which I really respect. But we were just all really on our 'A' game, and it showed."Knish certainly backed up her post-game talk, beating Laura Kelley 6-1, 6-1 from the No. 1 spot for her second win of the year and first in conference. The rest of the Saint Mary's squad followed suit, giving up only 19 points across the board. While most matches take upwards of five hours, the Belles had finished taking care of Adrian within a speedy three hours. Sophomore Kristen Palombo also played strongly, defeating Liz Filipiak from the No. 2 spot in consecutive sets, 6-0, 6-0. No. 3 singles player Kaitlin Cutler continued her stellar season, taking down her opponent 6-1, 6-0, to improve her overall record on the year to 8-1. No. 4 singles player Kris Spriggle also moved to an overall record of 8-1 after winning straight sets 6-1, 6-0 over Heather Fraser. At the No. 5 spot, sophomore Kate Bowler posted a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Karen Kruisenga to match her teammates' success. "It was a great start to our season," said No. 6 singles player Miranda Mikulyuk, who took down Lyndsey Davis in straight sets, 6-4, 6-0. "It's always helpful to our mentality as a team to get a conference win. I thought that we all played strongly. Each of us played our best game."They're a nice team, but they're not actually our strongest competition. No matter the opponent, it's always good to start a season out with a win."Although happy with the victory, the team was also looking forward to its next game against conference rival Hope College. "We all played well, and we're really looking forward to our next match," said Knish. "We gave 100 percent in this match, and we plan on giving 117.5 percent in our next match." After demonstrating their skill in the six singles matches, the Belles showed a similar penchant for winning in their doubles matches. Knish and Bowler, who make up the No. 1 doubles team, defeated Adrian's No. 1 tandem of Kelly and Cindy Kruisenga 6-2, 6-1 in straight sets. The other two doubles teams followed in form. The combination of Cutler and Spriggle took down Adrian's pair, Liz Filipiak and Heather Fraser, 6-1, 6-1, to improve their doubles record to 7-1 on the year. In the No. 3 doubles spot, Palombo and freshman Grace Gordon were easily victorious over Adrian's Karen Kruisenga and Davis, 6-0, 6-1."It was just all around a good day," Palombo said. "It was the first match where every single flight won, and we were very happy about that. Because it was on a Saturday, a lot of the parents showed up to watch, which was great. We're all very happy about how we've started the season, and we're looking forward to our game against Hope."
