Saint Mary's fell to 1-4 in MIAA play with a four-set loss to Alma at home Sunday by the score of 25-30, 21-30, 30-26, 28-30. Despite an impressive individual standout by defensive specialist Alison Shevik, the Belles were unable to pull out the victory.Shevik had 30 digs in the match, leading all players. Outside hitter Kristen Playko again led the Belles in kills, amassing 21 kills in the four-game match. Playko has led the team in kills for nearly every game this year, despite being only a freshman."Kristen's just another strong player," middle hitter Elise Rupright said. "She is an excellent player, but I think she also has a positive attitude."This year we have a much more positive team and I think we all want to do what we can to help each other out and help win."The Belles got off to a rough start, losing the first two games but coming back to win the next game. They made the fourth game close, but were unable to get it done and eventually fell by two points."That's probably what we were happiest about," Rupright said. "We didn't quit and fought hard to the end."Outside attacker Ann Carpenter had an especially solid game for the Belles, totaling 15 kills while committing zero errors.Setter Lauren Temple led the Belles in assists with 43, which is not all that unusual for a setter. What is somewhat unusual is that she was also the leading blocker on the team, totaling two blocks, both of which were assisted.Overall, the blocking game was not a strong point for the Belles, who totaled five blocks in the game while their opponent collected 13 blocks. Alma had more kills than Saint Mary's as well by a count of 67 to 56.The Belles had more digs than the Scots however, with Saint Mary's collecting 91 digs to Alma's 89. By far, Shevik had the most individual digs; the closest to her 30 were two Alma players who tied with 21 digs.Saint Mary's remains at home to face conference opponent Hope Tuesday at 6 p.m. Alma lost to Hope in straight sets earlier this year.
