Saint Mary's had a rollercoaster ride of a fall break.
The Belles started it off playing Alma on Oct. 14, the second time Saint Mary's met the tough conference foe that week. Alma came out strong, beating the Belles 30-19 in game one.
While the Belles took the second match with a 30-25 win, they couldn't keep up the fight. Alma took game three 30-22 and game four 30-27 for the win.
Senior outside hitter Kristen Playko posted the team high of 12 kills and contributed 26 digs. Senior libero Anne Cusack held the team high in digs with 34, and junior setter Amanda David had 35 assists in the effort.
The Belles dropped to fifth place in the MIAA with a 7-6 record and 14-8 record overall. Alma jumped to fourth in the MIAA with a record of 8-5 and 11-10 overall.
Saint Mary's 3, Windsor 1
On Oct. 18, the Belles played in an "international" exhibition match against Windsor. The Belles had a strong win against the Canadian team with a 3-1 (25-21, 25-20, 16-25, 25-15) victory.
Every Belle who dressed had a chance to play.
Saint Mary's 3, Kalamazoo 0
The following day, Oct. 19, the Belles traveled to Kalamazoo for another conference matchup. The Belles were ready to play and posted a great victory of 3-0.
Saint Mary's kept the leads strong in each game, winning in three 30-19, 30-20, 30-28.
Playko once again had a big game for the Belles, tallying a match-high 10 kills to go along with her 25 digs, and Cusack added 26 more digs.
Sophomore middle blocker Kaela Hellmann had seven kills on 14 attempts and no errors in posting a .500 hitting percentage.
The team had a total of eight service aces, keeping the Hornets on their heels throughout the match.
Saint Mary's improved its record to 15-8 overall and 8-6 MIAA, keeping fifth place in the conference. Kalamazoo stayed at sixth in the MIAA with a record of 4-9 and 8-14 overall.
The Belles take on the Tri-State Thunder on the road tonight at 7 p.m in another conference match and their second-to-last game of the season. The Thunder is seventh in the MIAA with a record of 5-9 and 8-18 overall.
The Belles will look to MIAA player of the week senior Kristen Playko for assistance in the conference win. Playko has been a key player in every game this fall, tallying 304 kills on the season with an average of 3.62 per a game. She is also second on the team in digs with 364 and a game average of 4.33.
Playko will need to watch out for MIAA Specialty Player of the week Tri-State senior setter Rainbow Bednarski.
Belles coach Julie Schroeder-Biek was not available for comment.
