Belles Topped by Third-Ranked Knights
Saint Mary's Stories
- Meaghan Gibbons led the Belles with 11 kills and an ace to go along with eight digs.
- Rachel Bonek put down nine kills and had three blocks.
- Colleen Kilgallon was in on five blocks, and Kaylin Szucs shared match-high honors with 12 digs.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Saint Mary's volleyball team lost a 3-0 (25-14, 25-15, 25-17) conference match to AVCA No. 3 ranked Calvin on Saturday afternoon.
The Belles responded to an early run by the Knights by rattling off a 7-1 run to pull within 11-10, showing they were ready to compete with one of the highest-ranked Division III teams in the country. During that run, the Belles picked up kills from Meaghan Gibbons, Leah Buck, and Rachel Bonek while Gibbons and Buck came up with a block and Gibbons added an ace. Calvin, however, responded with a 6-0 run for a 17-10 lead before claiming the first set by a 25-14 score.
The Knights carried that momentum into the second set and established a 10-4 lead, forcing the Belles into a time out. The teams traded points out of the time out to make it 11-5 before Calvin went up 12-5 and led by at least seven points for the remainder of the second set.
The Belles showed their resilience in the third set by once again erasing an early deficit and taking a 10-9 lead on a block by Rachel Bonek and Colleen Kilgallon. Four kills and a block by the host Knights quickly had the lead change hands as Calvin claimed a 14-10 lead. Another block by Bonek and Kilgallon followed by a Bonek kill put Saint Mary's right back into the match at 14-12. A string of back-and-forth points saw the score move to 16-14 in favor of Calvin, but the Knights used a quick scoring spurt to gain a 20-15 advantage late in the set. Gibbons fired up the Belles after a time out with a kill, but the deficit was too large to overcome late in the set as Calvin closed out the match with a 25-17 third-set decision.
Meaghan Gibbons led the Belles with 11 kills and an ace to go along with eight digs. Rachel Bonek put down nine kills and had three blocks. Leah Buck chipped in seven kills, and Colleen Kilgallon was in on five blocks. Kaylin Szucs shared match-high honors with 12 digs, and Alexis Grady registered 18 assists.
The Belles (1-5, 0-2 MIAA) travel to Kalamazoo on Wednesday, September 14 for a 7:00 p.m. conference match against the Hornets.