Despite their third place finish in last weekend's Capital Tournament, Saint Mary's suffered a disappointing loss to in-state rival Trine at the Angela Athletic Complex during their conference opener Tuesday.
"Last night's match was a really tough loss," Belles coach Toni Kuschel said. "It is always tough to lose a conference match at home on your own court."
Trine's scrappy play was too much for Saint Mary's as the Thunder won the final two sets to steal a victory from the Belles after they had taken two of the first three.
"Trine did all of the things that we talked about them doing to us in practice," Kuschel said."
Additionally, she attributed the loss to some unforced errors that really hurt her team.
"We have to learn to control what we can on our side of the net and not to push the ball where it can not go," she said.
Kushcel, however, realizes that every cloud has a silver lining.
"We learned a lot about ourselves during that match," she added. "We did not give up, which shows a lot of mental toughness, especially for our freshman."
The Belles once again received stellar play from senior Lorna Slupczynski, who tied a career high with a spectacular 27 kills.
Saint Mary's will look to rebound from the tough loss when it travels up to Michigan for a faceoff against MIAA rival Adrian College Friday.
