Belles Take Down Comets

Box Score

• Marielle Corbett led all players with 13 kills while picking up nine digs, serving two aces, and going in on two blocks.
• Nicole Lukens added a double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs with an ace.
• Rachel Bonek hammered down 12 kills, and Leah Buck added eight kills and three blocks.

OLIVET, Mich. - The Saint Mary's volleyball team battled to a 3-0 (33-31, 25-16, 25-20) conference win at Olivet on Tuesday evening.

A tense first set featured 13 ties and four lead changes as each team had opportunities late in the set to take a 1-0 lead. The Belles went ahead 19-14 only to see the host Comets come back to knot the score at 20-20. Saint Mary's continued to find the points to edge ahead 24-23 with a kill by Marielle Corbett, but Olivet responded with a kill and an ace to go up late. Now down 25-24, the Belles showed their grit. Marielle Corbett hammered a monster shot up the line to knot the score. Rachel Bonek tooled the block two serves later to keep the Belles alive. Nicole Lukens hit a finesse shot and followed up two points later with a line shot, and Rachel Bonek drew a blocking error for a kill as the score moved to 28-28. Lukens added a shot up the line, and a strong defensive coverage picked up a block before Corbett put down a kill in the center of the court as the Belles made it a 30-30 score. Corbett added another kill, and a pair of attack errors by the Comets sealed the set for the Belles with the 33-31 score.

The Belles broke a 12-12 tie in the second set with a four-point spurt thanks to three attack errors by the Comets and a service ace by Corbett. Olivet was able to get within two points at 16-14 after back-to-back kills, but Saint Mary's rattled off seven of the next eight points to go ahead 23-15. Leah Buck then put the set away a few points later with consecutive kills of her own for the 25-16 score.

Saint Mary's took over the third set by breaking a 14-14 tie with an 8-2 run. Nicole Lukens and Lindsey Pelletier combined for a block, Pelletier put down a kill, Leah Buck and Morgan VanderWey ended a point with a block, and Lukens had a kill during that decisive stretch of the set. Marielle Corbett later put the match away with a kill, lifting the Belles to the 25-20 set score and securing the sweep.

Marielle Corbett led all players with 13 kills while picking up nine digs, serving two aces, and going in on two blocks. Nicole Lukens added a double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs with an ace. Rachel Bonek hammered down 12 kills, and Leah Buck added eight kills and three blocks. Lindsey Pelletier had a solo block and two block assists. Audrey Shannon posted 21 digs, and Morgan VanderWey tallied 41 assists and seven digs for Saint Mary's.

The Belles (13-9, 9-6 MIAA) can secure a spot in the top-four MIAA Tournament on Friday with a win. Saint Mary's travels to Adrian for a 7:00 p.m. conference contest against the Bulldogs.