Saint Mary's fell to Hope 8-1 Wednesday afternoon, dropping its overall record to 5-9, 1-3 MIAA.
The Flying Dutch swept the doubles matches, and won five of the six singles in their victory over the Belles.
"Today was a tough match against Hope," sophomore co-captain Camille Gebert said. "They are a very strong team, with a lot of experience."
In the doubles matches, Saint Mary's could not carry over its momentum from last week's 3-0 domination at Olivet. Hope's sophomore Lucy Himes and junior Sammi Stille defeated Saint Mary's No. 1 doubles pair Gebert and freshman Jillian Hurley 8-2, resulting in their eighth loss as a pair this spring, Saint Mary's No. 2 doubles duo of sophomore co-captain Lisa Rubino and freshman Betsy Reed lost 8-6 to senior Christine Garcia and sophomore Danielle Werley, bringing them to an overall record of 5-7 as a pair. Hope's Katherine Garcia and Nicole Spanguolo defeated Saint Mary's No. 3 doubles pair Freshmen Jessica Kosinski and Franca Peluso 8-5.
"Our doubles did not pull through, which put us at a disadvantage early on," Gebert said. "We had a couple of close matches which could have gone either way. I think that we could have improved in our doubles."
The Flying Dutch continued to show their team's strength in the singles matches, winning all but one. For the fourth time this season, Hurley was the only Belle to win in singles play. Hurley defeated Hope's C. Garcia 6-0, 6-0 at the No.2 spot for her twelfth victory of the season. No. 1 singles player Gebert lost to Hope's Stille 6-2, 6-1 while No. 3 Reed was defeated 7-5, 6-4 by Werley; Marissa Kooyers beat No. 4 Kosinski 6-1, 6-1; No. 5 Rubino lost 6-2, 6-4 to Himes, and No.6 Peluso was beaten 6-2, 6-1 by Hope's K. Garcia.
"I hope that we can use all of this experience for the conference tournament," Gebert said. "We will be seeing all the teams there for a second time. It will give us a chance to redeem ourselves. It's just a matter of getting over the hump."
Saint Mary's next faces conference rival Tri-State at home. The Belles and the Thunder will play this Saturday at 1:00.
