Belles Sweep Brits for Third Straight Win

Box Score

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - Riding the hot-hitting of Allison Zandarski, the Saint Mary's volleyball team swept Albion 3-0 (25-15, 25-17, 27-25) for their third consecutive straight-set victory at home on Wednesday night.

The Belles broke open a 7-7 tie in the first set with seven points in-a-row to double their score and take the lead for good in the opener. Saint Mary's made it through just ten rotations as they took the first set by a 25-15 margin. In the set, Saint Mary's had just one hitting error with ten kills and four service aces.

Saint Mary's never trailed in the second set on their way to a 25-17 win. Allison Zandarski hit an impressive .857 for the set with six kills on just seven attempts and no errors.

Albion, however, would not go quietly down the stretch despite falling in the first two sets. In the third set, the Belles and the Brits were tied on fourteen occasions while the lead traded hands six times. With Saint Mary's up 11-6, Albion went on a five-point run to lead 12-11 before Kati Schneider delivered a kill to stop the run. Albion regained the lead after breaking a 19-19 lead as the Brits went up 22-19. Christi Wyble then delivered back-to-back kills and the Belles capitalized on a pair of Albion miscues to go up 23-22. The teams traded points five times as the Belles were denied on match point twice. It was then Stephanie Bodien's turn to put away back-to-back kills and lift the Belles to the 27-25 decision in the third set.

Allison Zandarski led both teams with 11 kills while hitting .474 (11 kills, two errors, 19 attempts). Stephanie Bodien added nine kills and Kati Schneider had eight kills and 13 digs in the win. Meghann Rose, meanwhile, moved into fourth place all-time in career digs in Saint Mary's volleyball history. The senior libero had 14 digs and now sits at 1,436 career digs. Danie Brink added a match-high 38 assists as the Belles won their third straight match.

The Belles (6-7, 4-4 MIAA) will have better than a week off until their next match when they host Kalamazoo next Friday, October 7, beginning at 7:00 p.m.