NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Saint Mary's volleyball team was halted on their home court in a 3-1 (25-20, 19-25, 25-22, 25-12) final against Adrian in both teams' conference opener on Tuesday night.

 

The Bulldogs took a 4-0 lead in the first set, but the Belles rattled off a four-point run a short while later to tie the score at 9-9 with a block by Molly Pooler, two kills by Colleen McCarthy, and a kill by Claire Hennessy. Adrian broke a 10-10 tie with three quick points and extended their lead to 18-12. Saint Mary's continued to battle with another kill by McCarthy and back-to-back kills by Allison Thornton to make it an 18-16 score. The Bulldogs came out of a timeout with back-to-back points to regain a cushion, and Adrian led by at least three points down the stretch on their way to a 25-20 decision in the first set.

 

McCarthy opened the second set with an ace and added another two points later for a 3-0 lead, and the Belles continued to hold off the Bulldogs early on in the stanza. Holding an 11-9 advantage, Saint Mary's took four of the next five points to push their lead to 15-10. The visiting side pulled within a point at 16-15, but a kill by McCarthy and an attack error by the Bulldogs gave the momentum back to the Belles. The two sides traded points back-and-forth before a double-block by Molly Pooler and Claire Hennessy made it 23-19. McCarthy put away another kill, and Pooler and McCarthy teamed up for a big block to give Saint Mary's the set by a 25-19 score.

 

The Belles carried that momentum over into the third frame as Saint Mary's jumped out to a 7-3 lead with kills by Shay Theile, Hannah Stacy, and Molly Pooler. The Bulldogs chipped away at the Saint Mary's lead as the Belles used a service error to make it 10-8. A kill by the visitors started an 8-1 run that saw Adrian build a 16-11 advantage. The Belles pulled back within two points at 21-19, 22-20, 23-21, and 24-22, but the Bulldogs closed out the set with a kill for the 25-22 win and a 2-1 overall lead.

 

After early ties at 5-5 and 6-6, the visiting Bulldogs took the momentum for good in the set and the match with a 10-0 run which saw Adrian build an insurmountable 18-7 lead. The Belles continued to battle down the stretch, but the Bulldogs ultimately took the set by a 25-12 margin to claim the 3-1 win in the match.

 

Colleen McCarthy led the Belles with 16 kills and three aces while also picking up eight digs. Molly Pooler put away 11 kills on just 25 attempts with a .360 attack percentage as the sophomore middle hitter collected six blocks. Shay Theile added 10 kills with seven digs, and Emma Watford had a team-best 11 digs on the night. Claire Hennessy posted 44 assists with seven digs, and Hannah Stacy hammered down seven kills for the Belles.

 

The Belles (4-7, 0-1 MIAA) are back on their home court on Friday when they host Hope for a 7:00 p.m. conference match.