Belles Sweep Brits in Season Finale

Box Score

ALBION, Mich. - The Saint Mary's volleyball team ended their 2011 season with a big 3-0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-19) win over conference rival Albion on Friday night.

The Belles fell behind early in the first set as they trailed 7-2 after a pair of Albion service aces. Saint Mary's chipped away at the lead before tying the set 10-10 on a service ace of their own. The Belles took the next three points to lead 13-10. The Brits got within a point of the Belles' lead at 17-16, 18-17, and 20-19, but Saint Mary's never gave up the lead as they closed out the set with five consecutive points for the 25-19 decision in the opener.

Again in the second set, Albion came out to take an early lead as the Brits were looking for their first conference win of the season. Saint Mary's, however, was able to break an 8-8 tie with four straight points and tack on a five-point run shortly after to go up 18-10. Albion was unable to put together more than three points in-a-row down the stretch while the Belles continued to apply the pressure on their way to the 25-15 set-two win.

In the third set, it would be Saint Mary's who would establish the early lead as the Belles ran off five straight points to take an 7-3 advantage. Albion got within two points of the lead a pair of times and made a run late in the match, but it was too little too late for the Brits as the Belles swept the match with a 25-19 third set win.

Stephanie Bodien and Allison Zandarski shared match-high honors with nine kills each in the win. Christi Wyble, meanwhile, continued her recent stretch of hot hitting with six kills and just one error on eight attempts for a .625 hitting percentage. Zandarski and Wyble both had four blocks on the evening to lead all players. Brooke Fowler chipped in five kills of her own on the night. In her final match for the Belles, libero Meghann Rose surpassed 1,600 career digs with a match-high 15 digs. Danie Brink added 24 assists in the win.

The Belles end their season 8-17 overall and 6-10 in conference play.