On Saturday the Belles made it three straight as they triumphed over Albion College.The win put Saint Mary's in a tie with the Britons for fifth place in the MIAA.The Belles improved to 4-5 in the conference and 4-8 overall. Earlier in the season, Albion defeated Saint Mary's in four games, but this time, the Belles were able to capitalize both on offense and defense and came away with the win. "Both our offense and defensive our strong," Michelle Gary said. "When we work together in both areas we give ourselves the chance to win. We just have to put them both together in the same game in order to establish some sort of balance."Among the Belles who played well were Amanda David and Michelle Turley. David ended the day with 12 kills on offense, while Turley collected 21 in the match. But neither player was done as they excelled on defense as well. Turley continued to shine for the Belles as she put up an impressive 31 digs. David had 15 of her own, and Ann Cusack's consistent play on defense was once against evident as she was second to only Turley with 27 digs. Cusack currently leads the team with 184 digs in 12 games. Turley has recorded 138 kills on offense this year, and Shelly Bender's 97 kills place her close behind.For the second straight year, Saint Mary's lost the first match to the Britons only to come back in the next one and win. The Belles won the first game, 30-28, and pulled out a grueling second contest with a 36-34 victory. Things got a little scary as the Belles dropped the next two forcing the match into a fifth and deciding game. However, Saint Mary's accepted the challenge and won by a score of 15-9. Since starting the season 0-5, the Belles have compiled a record of 4-3 in their last seven games and appear to be right back in the hunt in the MIAA. They currently trail Adrian College by only one game for fourth place. "Kalamazoo is coming up on Wednesday and they have a strong team," Gary said. "We are tied with Albion for fifth in the MIAA, but we are still taking one game at a time. We have the potential to beat the rest of the teams on our schedule and the chance to keep rising in the standings."Saint Mary's will need to have another solid game this Wednesday when they take on third place Kalamazoo. The Hornets are 7-2 in the league, but the rejuvenated Belles will be eagerly looking to extend their streak.
Contact Justin Stetz at jstetz@nd.edu.
