NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. - The Saint Mary's volleyball team fell in a 3-1 (24-26, 25-19, 25-19, 25-16) final at Manchester on Wednesday night.

 

The first set was back-and-forth from start to finish. The Belles erased an early deficit with a big spurt midway through the stanza to gain a 17-12 lead. The Spartans came back to tie the score at 18-18, but back-to-back Caroline Carens kills gave Saint Mary's the upper hand. Cali Allen put away consecutive kills for a 23-20 lead. Manchester tied things up yet again at 23-23. A service error gave the Belles a set-point advantage at 24-23 before a Spartan kill knotted the score at 24-24. Mia Shields put an end to Manchester's comeback efforts in the set with back-to-back kills for the 26-24 win.

 

Saint Mary's gained the advantage midway through the second set as the Belles held a 16-13 lead, forcing the Spartans to call a timeout. A kill by Carens followed by a block by the freshman middle hitter and Shani Russell shifted the momentum to the visiting side. The host Spartans, however, used a five-point run out of that timeout to gain an 18-16 lead. The sides traded points before three-consecutive points by Manchester pushed the Spartans ahead 22-17. An attack error by Manchester followed by a Shay Theile kill put life into the comeback attempt, but a service error and two kills gave the set to Manchester by the 25-19 score.

 

Manchester jumped out to a lead and led by six at 10-4 and 16-10. The Belles tried to chip away at the deficit. Grace Braselton, Caroline Carens, and Abby Reese all put away kills as the Belles trailed 19-14. A quick two points by Carens and Braselton followed moments later by a Manchester error and back-to-back Abby Reese kills pulled the Belles within three points at 21-19 as the Spartans called a timeout. Errors late, however, allowed Manchester to capture the 25-19 set for the lead going into the fourth stanza.

 

A big 13-1 run early by Manchester saw the Spartans take a 16-4 lead. The Belles strung together a 7-1 run late in the set to make it a 22-15 score. The deficit, however, was too large in the end to overcome as Manchester closed out the match with a 25-16 decision in the set.

 

Cali Allen led the Belles with 10 kills and eight digs, and Shani Russell matched Allen's eight digs while putting up 22 assists. Caroline Carens hit a .333 with nine kills and put down a pair of blocks. Grace Braselton also posted nine kills on a .462 hitting effort with a block. Mia Shields had five kills, Delaney Martin posted four kills, and Kennedy Oselka had three kills. Abby Reese registered 12 assists, four digs, and three kills with a solo block. Karli Fegan put up seven digs and four assists on the night.

 

The Belles (4-8) are on the road again on Saturday when they travel to North Park for a 3:00 p.m. CDT (4:00 p.m. EDT) match.