While the Belles' conference record may still be perfect, their trip this weekend to Madison resulted in three losses to top Wisconsin teams.
"We played against really tough teams this weekend," senior captain Kelly McDavitt said. "Some of us were able to rise to the occasion and win matches, but we all learned something from the tournament."
In the first match of the weekend, the Belles fell 8-1 to the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, a team ranked No. 29 in the nation. While McDavitt lost in straight sets to UWL player Angie Riedel in the No. 1 singles spot (6-1, 6-1), standout Camille Gebert earned the only win for Saint Mary's in the No. 2 spot, defeating Rachel Benn (6-2, 6-4).
In a close third match, freshman Lisa Rubino fell to UWL player Julie Tellefsen. After winning the first set 6-3, she lost the following set by the same score and eventually the tiebreaker to give the match to Tellefsen.
In the No. 4 spot, senior Tara O'Brien fell to UWL player Erin Fekete in two straight sets. Playing in the fifth singles spot, junior Cassie Quaglia fell in two sets, 7-5 and 6-1, to UWL player Carlie Bohrman. In the final singles match, UWL player Sarah Schoenwaelder defeated Belles senior Grace Gordon.
During the day's doubles play, McDavitt and Gebert first fell to Tellefsen and Riedel 8-4. The Belles' No. 2 doubles duo of O'Brien and Gordon fell 8-1 to Benn and Fekete, and the freshman duo of Erin Kaplan and Rubino also fell 8-1 to Schoewaelder and Tornow.
The Belles seemed to have better luck in the second match of the day against the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Though they lost the match 5-4, they dominated singles play, winning four of the six matches.
McDavitt won her match against UWW player Nicole Stamm. Rubino won her match against Kara Theis in dramatic fashion with a 10-7 tiebreaker.
In the No. 4 singles spot, O'Brien fell in two straight sets to UWW player Kara Amundson. In the final singles match, Gordon clinched the win in a tiebreaker after winning the first set 7-6 and losing the second set 1-6.
The Belles fell apart during the matches' doubles play. After Stamm and Theis first defeated McDavitt and Gebert 8-6, Belles players O'Brien and Gordon fell 8-4 to Farrar and Dawson. In the final match of the day, Kaplan and Rubino fell to Kara Admundson and Brittany Aering 8-5 to complete the sweep.
In the weekend's final match, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire took four of the six singles matches to secure a 7-2 win over the Belles.
The Belles only two wins of the match came in singles play from McDavitt and Rubino.
During the match's doubles play, the Belles were swept once again. The freshman duo of Kaplan and Rubino fell in the final match of the day 8-5 to WEC players Deprey and Courtney Lynne.
"This tournament was a great opportunity for our team," McDavitt said. "I think all of us on the team learned something about our game. We now know what we need to improve for our match against Tri-State."
With an overall record now of 7-9, the Belles will travel today to Angola, Ind., to play Tri-State University and try to maintain their undefeated conference record. The match will begin at 3 p.m.
