The Belles dropped two meets over the weekend. They fell to Hope 173-98 Friday at the Rolfs Aquatic Center and at Division I Valparaiso 137-66 on Saturday.
Belles coach Mark Benishek said the team competed hard, but they were up against strong competition over the weekend.
"We had some tough runs," Benishek said. "We went back-to-back meets against tough clubs. We really have our sights set on some of our upcoming meets, especially Wabash and Calvin in the next couple of weeks."
Against Hope, Belles senior breaststroker Audrey Dalrymple brought in three first-place finishes. She topped her Flying Dutch competition in the 100-breaststroke (1:10.78), the 200-breaststroke (2:31.54) and the 200 IM (2:18.15).
Despite the loss to Valparaiso, the Belles had strong performances from their senior leaders. Dalrymple came in first in the 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 1:12.24. She also came in second in both the 200 IM and the 400-medley relay.
Benishek said he was happy with the performance of his seniors, who have been consistently bringing in points for the Belles all year.
"Our senior leadership has been a strong point all year. [Seniors] Katie Donovan, Megan Price and Audrey Dalrymple all had strong performances over the weekend," Benishek said. "Their senior leadership has been great, and they have backed it up with strong swims. We know we can always count on them for motivation."
Donovan picked up two second-place finishes in the 200-freestyle with a time 2:05.73 against the Crusaders and 2:05.70 against the Flying Dutch.
The Belles also had a strong performance from Freshman Anna Nolan. Nolan finished second in the 50-freestyle (26.75). She notched a pair of second places in the 100-backstroke over the weekend in 1:06.24 Friday and 1:06.39 Saturday as well.
The Belles will host Defiance College on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Rolfs Aquatic Center.
