Belles Swept by Top-Ranked Knights
Saint Mary's Stories
- Meaghan Gibbons had six kills and a solo block and a block assist to pace the Belles.
- Leah Buck added four kills and two block assists.
- Kaylin Szucs led all players with 13 digs on the night.
NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Saint Mary's volleyball team fell in a 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-10) conference match against No. 1 ranked Calvin on Wednesday night.
The Belles took the first three points of the opening set to claim a quick lead against the top-ranked Knights. Calvin responded with a 10-2 run to turn the tables and take a 10-5 lead. Saint Mary's chipped away a few points at a time and pulled within two points at 12-10, 13-11, and 14-12. Calvin rattled off another run to go ahead 21-14, but the Belles came right back with a quick 5-0 spurt a few points later to cut the deficit to 22-20 as the Knights called a timeout to try to stop the momentum. Out of the timeout, Calvin quickly claimed two points to lead set point. McKenzie Todd put down a kill to keep the Belles alive, but the Knights closed out the set with a kill of their own for the 25-21 win.
The second set saw the Belles set the tone early with a 5-0 run for a 6-2 lead as the Knights called a quick timeout in the set. Calvin put seven of the next eight points on the scoreboard for a 9-7 lead. Saint Mary's kept close by capitalizing on some miscues by the Knights before Leah Buck and Alexis Grady put down back-to-back blocks to give the Belles a 12-11 lead. The Knights, however, countered with four consecutive points to go ahead 15-12. Another run a short time later extended Calvin's lead to 20-14 before the Knights claimed the 25-15 second set win.
As Calvin's offense continued to be productive, the Belles' offense found it increasingly difficult to find the seams in the defense as the Knights posted a .345 attack percentage in the third set to Saint Mary's -.100 in the stanza. The Knights used several scoring spurts in the third set and never looked back on their way to a 25-10 win to take the 3-0 sweep.
Meaghan Gibbons had six kills and a solo block and a block assist to pace the Belles. Leah Buck added four kills and two block assists. Kaylin Szucs led all players with 13 digs on the night. Alexis Grady added a pair of block assists and nine assists. McKenzie Todd posted nine digs with three kills and an ace.
The Belles (10-12, 6-4 MIAA) have a break in competition until Tuesday, October 18 when they host Kalamazoo at 7:00 p.m.