Volleyball
Saint Mary’s completed its fourth consecutive straight-sets victory on Tuesday, defeating Alma 3-0 (25-22, 25-13, 25-13).
The Belles (5-6, 2-2 MIAA) opened up a 17-11 lead in the first set, but the Scots (6-4, 2-3) closed the gap to 22-21. However, Saint Mary’s held on, taking the final three points of the opening set, winning the set on a Scots attack error.
In the second set, the Belles started and finished strong. Saint Mary’s took a 5-1 lead and finished on a 9-2 run, clinching the set at a score of 25-13 with a kill from senior middle hitter Colleen Kilgallon.
In the third set, the Belles took a 9-3 lead before the Scot closed it to 11-9. It didn’t take long for Saint Mary’s to restore the cushion though, taking 10 of the next 12 points on their way to win the set 25-13 on an attack error.
Senior left-side hitter Meaghan Gibbons led the Belles with 12 kills while recording only two errors. Senior setter Clare McMillan recorded 19 assists and 10 digs.
The Belles will play at Hope at 7 p.m. Friday.
Soccer
Saint Mary’s continued to struggle in conference play, failing to record a shot as the Belles fell 5-0 to Calvin.
The Belles (1-6-0, 0-5-0) found themselves in a hole early on, as Knights senior forward Brianna Russell finished past freshman goalkeeper Thalia Robles and put the Knights (5-3-0, 4-1-0) ahead inside the first 10 minutes. Three minutes later, it was 2-0, as senior midfielder Allie Corp scored after a goalmouth scramble in the Belles box.
The Belles remained in the game for the rest of the first half, keeping the score at 2-0 going into the break. However, only 14 seconds into the second half, the Knights scored again through sophomore midfielder Bekah Maguire. Maguire added another from an Alyson Katje pass less than 10 minutes into the half to put the game beyond all doubt. Robles prevented the scoreline from widening for the next half hour, recording a total of 10 saves in the second half and 14 in total, but Russell added one more goal to the final score just five minutes from time.
The Belles will be in action again Friday, when they play Hope. The game kicks off at 6 p.m. at Saint Mary’s.
