After beating Alma 8-1 Saturday for its fourth league victory, Saint Mary's is now tied for second place in the MIAA. "I feel like we were really able to come together as a team and get a win," senior captain Kelly McDavitt said. The Belles dominated in singles play, defeating every Alma player in straight sets. In the No. 1 singles spot, McDavitt defeated Scots senior Laura Kendrick 6-0, 6-1. Standout freshman Camille Gebert had a closer match but beat Scots junior Kelly Schwartzkopf 6-3, 7-5. Belles freshman Lisa Rubino defeated Scots sophomore Laura McKendry 6-4 and 6-1 in the No. 3 singles spot. In the fourth spot, senior Tara O'Brien defeated junior Lindsay Wagner 7-6 (7-2), 6-2. Belles junior Cassie Quaglia defeated Scots sophomore Emily Noss in the fifth singles spot 6-4, 6-4. In the final singles match of the day, senior Grace Gordon dominated, defeating Scots senior Betsy Bulthuis 6-4, 6-1. In the day's doubles play, McDavitt and Gebert shut out the duo of Wagner and Schwartzkopf 8-0. Gordon and O'Brien had less luck in the No. 1 spot, and narrowly lost 9-7 to the Scots doubles pairing of Noss and Kendrick. Finally, in the No. 3 spot, the freshman duo of Erin Kaplan and Rubino defeated Bulthuis and McKendry 8-3. The Belles now boast an MIAA conference record of 4-1 with overall record of 8-10. Next the Belles will face the MIAA's top team, Kalamazoo. The Hornets hold a perfect conference record of 5-0. The two teams did not play in 2006. "Kalamazoo is a great team. We're going to have to work hard, but I think we can pull through," McDavitt said. "We were able to beat Calvin, which is also one of the top teams in the conference, so I feel confident that we should be able to work hard and get a win."The Belles will travel to Kalamazoo to play the Hornets this Tuesday. First serve is scheduled for 3 p.m.
