Saint Mary’s has its eyes set on a big win today as it travels to Albion for a matchup of two teams undefeated in conference play.
The Belles (6-4, 2-0 MIAA) have already tallied a 9-0 win over Olivet and an 8-1 victory against Trine, and head coach Dale Campbell said a win over the Britons (10-1, 4-0) would be important in his team’s pursuit of a top-four spot and berth in the conference tournament.
“A win in this match would be tremendous,” Campbell said. “[Albion] has beaten us in consecutive years so a win would be huge. Most importantly I want to get better but it’s time for a big win. We don’t care in what form it would come, but a win over Albion would get us out in front of many teams battling for tournament spots.”
Last time out, on April 1, the Belles dropped an 8-1 decision to preseason NAIA No. 16 Indiana Wesleyan, but Campbell said he took some positives from the defeat.
“We faced a lot of pace, solid serves and just all-around good players,” Campbell said. “If we can provide that pressure to other teams, serve better, return better and move as if we are playing against pace all of the time, it will help us to get comfortable against solid opponents. [The match] gave us some experience of what we will see moving forward.”
Today’s contest starts a busy stretch for the Belles, who will play three matches over the next four days and five over the next nine. Campbell said, however, that his team is taking things one step at a time.
“We will just focus one day at a time, get some good preparation, play a match, prepare, play, in that order,” Campbell said. “It’s important to have a good routine, a good warm-up and a consistent mental approach to play your best every day.”
The Belles take the court in Albion, Mich., against the Britons today at 4 p.m. before returning home for Thursday and Saturday home matches against Bethel and Alma.
