Over the break, between the two schools, the Saint Mary’s and Holy Cross athletic teams competed in 12 games.
Saint Mary's
The Saint Mary’s Belles had three teams compete over the break including cross country, soccer and volleyball.
Cross country
Saint Mary's cross country competed in the Augustana Interregional Invitational over the break, placing 31st.
In the 600m women’s gold race, sophomore Jordan Siminski led the Belles, finishing with a season-best time of 24:35.3. Freshman Allie Glendening finished closely behind with a time of 24:39.9. Senior Susanna Bernovich and sophomore Savannah Paulson finished with times of 24:44.4 and 24:46.4.
Sophomores Anna Scannell and Cecilia Conrad finished with times of 25:16.9 and 25:24.7. Rounding out the gold race, junior Isabelle Auch and freshman Hannah Walsh finished with times of 25:27.3 and 25:29.2.
Sophomores Ellie York and Josie DeWine finished with times of 28:59.3 and 30:50.5 for the Belles in the 600m women’s blue race.
Soccer
The Belles soccer team played a total of four games over fall break, tying one game and losing the other three.
The first game that the Belles played was against the Alma Scots. This game was also senior night for the Belles as they honored seniors goalkeeper Riley Lindsey, midfielder Grace Barresi, midfielder Mary Kaczynski, forward Katie Harrington and forward Izzi Linus.
With strong defense from both teams, neither team was able to put a goal up on the board despite going back and forth constantly, making the final score 0-0. Saint Mary's dominated defensively, totaling more shots (16-3) than the Scots and more shots on goal (5-1).
Saint Marys fell 2-0 in the second game against the Albion College Britons. Both teams battled hard back and forth throughout the first half, but the Brits managed to put up their first goal of the night at the 20:39 time mark. The second half looked similar as the two teams battled back and forth. With that, the Brits were able to put up a second goal near the end of the game at the 85:44 time mark to finish the game up 2-0. The Belles outshot Albion (13-5) and had more shots on goal (7-5) overall.
The third game, a makeup game from Oct. 12 against the Adrian Bulldogs, also did not look in favor of the Belles as they took a 1-0 loss. In the first half, Adrian was able to get its first and only goal of the game at the 39-minute time mark to make the score 1-0. Both teams’ offenses were strong, but Adrian pulled through having more shots (8-6) and more shots on goal (5-2).
The Belles traveled back home for the fourth game against Trine but took the 3-0 loss against the Thunder. As both teams battled back and forth in the first half, the Thunder managed to score first at the 12:51 time mark. Trine managed their second goal of the game in the second half at the 47:49 time mark and added their third and final point of the game at the 69:26 time mark.
Volleyball
The Belles volleyball team competed in one game over fall break against the Adrian College Bulldogs and took a 3-1 loss. Adrian took an early lead during the first set as they took a 25-12 win over Saint Mary’s. The Belles took the second set over the Bulldogs 25-20 to tie. Sophomore middle and right side hitter Caroline Carens totaled eight kills, and freshman setter Giuliana Graczyk totaled 14 assists.
The two teams continued to battle back and forth for the lead in the third set. Ultimately, using short runs to its advantage, Adrian was able to pull through and finish the match with a 25-18 win. Carens added five more kills and Graczyk contributed eight more assists. While the Bulldogs came out on top with a 25-19 win in the fourth set over the Belles thanks to a 11-2 run, the Belles fought back throughout the set.
Carens tallied a season high of 17 kills, senior outside hitter Cali Allen had eight kills and freshman outside and middle hitter Kalli Lewkowski added seven of her own. Graczyk led in assists totaling a season high of 32. Junior defensive specialist and libero Karli Fegan added 24 digs, Graczyk totaled 16 digs, junior outside and middle hitter Delaney Martin put up 13 digs and sophomore setter Abby Reese contributed 11.
Holy Cross
The Saints had three sports compete over the break including women’s soccer, men’s soccer and women’s basketball.
Women’s soccer
The Saints women’s soccer team competed in two games over the break, finishing tied 1-1 in both games.
The first team that the Saints women's soccer team faced off against was the Saint Xavier Cougars on Oct. 19. Holy Cross took the early lead, scoring their first goal at the 29:47 time mark thanks to sophomore forward Arianna Barreras and an assist from freshman forward Emma Vono. The Cougars made a comeback in the second half with a goal of their own. The Cougars outshot the Saints (19-5) and totaled more shots on goal (5-3).
The final game that the Saints played over the break was against the Judson Eagles and ended in a tie. Holy Cross scored in the first half at the 7:01 time mark thanks to junior midfielder Neyda Macias and an assist from freshman defender Avery Peters. The Eagles made a comeback during the second half by putting up a goal of their own at the end of the game at the 88:01 time mark. The Saints outshot the Eagles (11-8) and had more shots on goal (6-5).
Men’s soccer
The men’s soccer team competed in three games throughout the break for the Saints, tying two games and winning one.
The first game that the Saints competed in was against the Saint Xavier Cougars, finishing with a 0-0 tie as both teams held a strong defense. The Saints outshot the Cougars (15-12) and had more shots on goal (12-1).
Game two continued to show how hard the Saints were willing to fight as they tied the second game 1-1 against the Judson Eagles. The Eagles struck first right out of the gate as they scored at the 2:20 time mark. The Saints were quick to respond with a goal at the 6:49 time mark thanks to senior forward Juan Perez, making the final score 1-1.
In the final game of the break, the Saints took the close, 2-1 loss against the Trinity Christian Trolls. Holy Cross came out strong in the first half as it put up the first goal of the game thanks to senior forward Juan Perez and an assist from freshman fullback Nathan Sanchez. Trinity Christian responded by putting up a goal of their own at the 33:27 time mark to tie up the score.
The two teams’ defenses battled back and forth to keep the ball out of the net but the Trolls managed to put up a second goal to win the game at the 85:32 time mark.
Women’s basketball
Coming off of a 16-14 overall season in 2023-2024, the Holy Cross women’s basketball team made its 2024-2025 season debut over the break against the Taylor University Trojans and took an 80-72 loss.
Overall, for the starters, senior guard Jordyn Smith ended the night with 11 points, senior guard Kayliana Hammel totaled 18, senior forward Grace Adams put up 22 points, freshman forward Allie Caldwell put up 12 points for the Saints with her first collegiate start and sophomore guard Lilly Toppen added three points.
For the reserves, freshman forward Kaiden Hanley made her first collegiate appearance as she scored four points for the Saints in the season opener. Junior guard Audrey Tallent also contributed, adding on two points of her own.
