Belles Sweep Bulldogs and Spartans

Box Score vs. Adrian
Box Score vs. Manchester

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Saint Mary's volleyball team picked up a pair of wins on Saturday as they swept both conference foe Adrian (25-23, 29-27, 25-17) and in-state opponent Manchester (25-21, 26-24, 27-25).

In the first match of the day, the Belles took the lead and never gave it up in the opening set against Adrian. The Bulldogs kept things interesting, however, as they battled back back to knot the score at 22-22 and 23-23. Stephanie Bodien put the first set away for the Belles on back-to-back kills to break the 23-23 tie and give Saint Mary's the first set decision.

The Saint Mary's offense was tough for the Bulldogs to stop in the second set as Saint Mary's would tally 20 kills and hit .224 in the set. Trailing 5-2, Saint Mary's quickly tied the match at 5-5 on a kill by Emily Getz. A few points later, the Belles would build a 19-14 lead on another kill by Bodien. The Belles looked to be on their way to the second set victory, but Adrian erased the five-point deficit to tie the set at 20-20 before edging ahead to set-point at 24-23. After regrouping in a timeout, Emily Getz and Christi Wyble came up with a big block to keep the Belles going. Once again, Saint Mary's stared down set-point and came through with a big play with Wyble putting away a kill to tie the set at 25-25. With the teams tied for the eleventh time in the set, Kati Schneider delivered back-to-back kills to lift Saint Mary's to the 29-27 win.

In the third set, Saint Mary's broke a 4-4 tie with six straight points to take the lead for good. The Bulldogs would get within three points of the Belles at 16-13, but Saint Mary's responded again with four consecutive points en route to the straight-set victory 25-23, 29-27, 25-17.

Stephanie Bodien had a match-high 15 kills along with a pair of service aces in the win against Adrian. Kati Schneider added 13 kills, Danie Brink tallied 39 assists and 11 digs, and Meghann Rose chipped in 11 digs of her own. Christi Wyble was a force to be reckoned with at the net as she notched a match-high six blocks.

In the nightcap, Saint Mary's staved off late rallies by Manchester for their second win on the day. The Belles picked up where they left off in the first match as they hit .406 with 17 kills and just four errors on 32 swings in the opening set against the Spartans. Saint Mary's turned a one-point advantage into a five-point lead on four consecutive kills to go up 21-17. The Belles would hold at least a three-point lead on their way to the opening set win.

The second set featured twelve ties and eight lead changes. With the scored knotted at 22-22, Manchester picked up a kill and a service ace to hold the set-point advantage 24-22. Much like earlier in the day, the Belles battled back and scored the next four points to take the second set 26-24.

What looked like a repeat of the second set, the third set had fourteen ties and six lead changes as the visiting Spartans seemed determined to at least take a set from the Belles. Saint Mary's, however, had other plans. Neither team had more than a three-point lead in the set, but the Belles were able to hold off a late charge from the Spartans and take the 27-25 win.

It would be Kati Schneider's turn to lead the Belles with a match-high 15 kills. Stephanie Bodien and Allison Zandarski both added 11 kills. Bodien surpassed the 500 dig plateau with nine digs, and Zandarski hit an impressive .400 with just three errors on twenty attempts. Christi Wyble remained strong at the net with five blocks in the win. Danie Brink, meanwhile, eclipsed 2,000 career assists with 36 helpers for the Belles. She became just the fourth player to pass that mark in a Saint Mary's uniform. Meghann Rose is now just a handful of digs away from fourth place in program history as she had a match-high 14 digs in the victory.

The Belles (5-7, 3-4 MIAA) will next host Albion on Wednesday, September 28, for a 7:00 p.m. conference tilt against the Britons.