Saint Mary's dominated its home opener against Olivet Tuesday night, winning 3-0 (30-17, 30-19, 30-27) to earn its first conference victory of the season.
The Belles (4-6, 1-2 MIAA) worked on teamwork all week, and coach Julie Schroeder-Biek feels they finally have come together.
"I felt that the team played very well together tonight. Our block was fantastic," Schroeder-Biek said. "We were very aggressive along the net in both our blocking and our attacking."
The Belles attacked successfully and had eight out of their 10 players get at least one kill, totaling 51 kills for the Belles over the Comet's 34. Sophomore outside hitter Lorna Slupczynski led the attack with 15 kills, while junior middle blocker Cathy Kurczak contributed 11.
Those kills can also be contributed to senior setter Amanda David, who posted 26 assists in only two out of the three games.
"The passers did a nice job of getting Amanda the ball, so that she had multiple choices in setting up the offense," Schroeder-Biek said. "Amanda did an outstanding job in those first two games."
Sophomore setter Liana Rohr replaced David for the closing game.
"I really wanted to give Liana a chance to run the offense," Schroeder-Biek said. "Even though Liana sets all the time in practice, there is no better teacher than playing in a match. I really felt that Liana did a nice job tonight."
The Belles dominated the first two games, playing together and talking to each other on and off the court.
The Comets hung close in the third game, but Saint Mary's scored four unanswered points to win the match, capped off by a game-point spike by freshman middle blocker Andrea Sasgen.
The Belles play another conference match versus Alma at 7 p.m. tomorrow evening.
