Saint Mary's continues conference play this afternoon as the Belles host the Adrian (5-11, 2-5) for their third consecutive home match. Saint Mary's (8-9, 2-3 MIAA) defeated conference foe Tri-State 8-1 this past weekend, and beat cross town rival Bethel Tuesday 7-2.
With each match, Saint Mary's has shown improvement in both the doubles and singles divisions. On Saturday against Tri-State, Saint Mary's won two of the three doubles, and swept the singles play. The Belles followed up Tuesday by winning all three doubles matches, and going 4-2 in singles play.
The No. 1 doubles duo of sophomore co-captain Camille Gebert and freshman Jillian Hurley won their 8th match as a pair with their 8-2 triumph over Bethel juniors Bree Oles and Jade Walus. Gebert and Hurley moved to 8-8, 4-1 MIAA as Saint Mary's top doubles team. The No. 2 doubles pair of sophomore co-captain Lisa Rubino and freshmen Betsy Reed beat Sherra Milender and Lindsey Dixon 8-3, while freshmen Jessica Camp and Franca Peluso stepped up for the Belles in the No. 3 doubles spot for their second match as a pair. Camp and Peluso won 8-5 over Carrie Edison and Serena Frey.
Saint Mary's singles maintained the momentum they gained in the victory over Tri-State as they defeated Bethel 4-2 to win the division. No. 1 singles Gebert beat Oles 6-0 in one set before Oles removed herself from the match due to shoulder problems. At No. 2 singles, Hurley won her 14th match of the season, defeating theWalus 6-0, 6-2. No. 3 and No. 4 singles for Saint Mary's weren't as successful. No. 3 Reed lost 6-1, 6-2 to Edison, while No. 4 freshman Jessica Kosinski was defeated 8-6, 6-1 by Milender. No. 5 singles Rubino kept up her consistency as she defeated Julia Horn 6-4, 6-2 in her seventh singles win of the season. Freshman Laura Arnold made her fifth appearance at No. 6 singles for Saint Mary's, defeating Frey in a tie-breaker third match 10-8 after losing her first match 2-6, and winning her second 6-2.
"We played strong doubles Tuesday, so hopefully we can start the match off again by getting three wins in doubles," Rubino said. "Then we have to keep the momentum going for our singles matches."
Keeping up momentum has been Saint Mary's top priority in their recent competitions, and will be especially important in today's match. The Belles face conference rivals Kalamazoo (10-7, 4-2 MIAA) and Alma (11-6, 3-3 MIAA) this Saturday and Sunday.
"We hope to keep our momentum going for our next few matches, and then for the conference tournament," Rubino. "We have to keep playing the way we have been to get a few more wins this season."
