ANGOLA, Ind. - The Saint Mary's volleyball team had a 3-0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-20) setback against Trine at Hershey Hall on Friday night in a non-conference competition.

 

Neither team was able to establish more than a three-point lead midway through the opening set. After six ties and five lead changes, the Thunder broke a 12-12 tie with a 9-1 run to build a 21-13 advantage on their home court. Saint Mary's regrouped in a timeout, and the Belles got a kill from Hannah Stacy before back-to-back attack errors by Trine made it a 21-17 score. Back-to-back kills by Colleen McCarthy a few points later kept the Belles alive at 23-21, but the Thunder took two of the next three points for the 25-22 win in the set.

 

The host Thunder took the first three points of the second set and never trailed. The Belles were able to edge within two points as late as 10-8 in the set, but a 5-1 scoring spurt by Trine pushed the advantage to 15-9. Saint Mary's continued to try to find a way to get back into the thick of things. Molly Pooler had a kill and a solo block, Courtney Pelletier tallied a kill, and Colleen McCarthy put away a kill of her own, but the Belles were unable to string more than two points together at a time as Trine took the set 25-17.

 

A service error followed by kills by Claire Hennessy and Molly Pooler pulled the Belles within a point at 6-5 early in the third set, but Trine took control of the momentum and the set with a big 9-2 run to go ahead 15-7. Down 23-12 a few points later, the Belles made a big push down the stretch to chip away at the deficit. A kill by Pooler started a 7-0 run by Saint Mary's as McCarthy, Pooler, and Hennessy all picked up blocks to slow down the Trine attack. That run pulled the Belles back within four points at 23-19 as the Thunder called a timeout. Trine got a big kill out of that break to go ahead set-point, and the Thunder closed out the set two points later with a kill for the 25-20 final.

 

Colleen McCarthy had a team-high 11 kills and added seven digs. Molly Pooler posted a .467 attack percentage with nine kills while putting down three blocks. Courtney Pelletier led the Belles with 14 digs to go along with four kills. Emma Watford picked up nine digs, and Claire Hennessy tallied 26 assists and five digs.

 

The Belles (5-9, 1-2 MIAA) return to conference competition on Tuesday when they travel to Calvin for a 7:00 p.m. match.