MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Saint Mary's College Volleyball defeated Rhodes College, 3-2, on Saturday in their final day in Tennessee. The Belles improve to 14-9 while the Lynx fall to 10-16 on the year.

Saint Mary's got out to an early lead in the first set and kept Rhodes at a safe distance through the early part of the set. While the Lynx closed the gap to just one, the Belles scored four straight to extend their lead over the Lynx and they wouldn't look back. Saint Mary's closed out the set on a 9-4 run to take an early lead with their 25-16 victory. Junior Caroline Carens (Naperville, IL) led all attackers with six kills in the set while sophomore Kalli Lewkowski (Spring Lake, MI) added five. 

Both teams fought through the second set as they traded points back and forth as no team could gain any significant momentum. But after the Belles had a one point lead late in the set, the Lynx scored four straight including back-to-back service aces to take the second set, 25-22, and tie the match. Carens and Lewkowski moved up to eight and seven kills each while junior Abby Reese (Elkhart, IN) and sophomore Giuliana Graczyk (Chicago, IL) each finished the set with 12 assists.

Rhodes jumped out to an early lead with a 6-0 run early in the set and led through the majority of the third set. Saint Mary's battled back and continued to close the gap before taking the lead late in the set, 22-21. Both teams battled through the 25 point mark as the Belles took advantage of a big kill from Carens and back-to-back errors from the Lynx to take the set, 28-26, and take a 2-1 lead in the match. Carens moved up to 13 kills while Lewkowski joined her in double figures with 11. Graczyk surpassed the 20 assist mark in the set.

While the fourth set was no different than the first three, both teams continued to trade points throughout the majority of the set. Rhodes was able to pull away late in the set, winning 25-20, and forcing the match into a fifth set, the second fifth set match of the week for the Belles. Carens moved up to 15 kills while Lewkowski followed at 14. Reese joined Graczyk in surpassing 20 assists as she moved to 21 on the match.

While Saint Mary's got out to an early lead, Rhodes stormed right back with a 7-0 run to take a two point lead in the second half of the set. The Belles bounced right back with a 5-0 run to close out the set, 15-12, and take the match, 3-2.

Carens led the Belles with 18 kills on the match while Lewkowski added 15. Senior Grace Braselton (Grand Rapids, MI) added 12 kills to tie her career high. Lewkowski led the team by hitting an incredible .519 while both Carens and Braselton both hit above .300 on the match. Reese led the team with 26 assists while Graczyk added 24.

Defensively, freshman Shannon Rudge (Granger, IN) led with 14 digs while senior Karli Fegan (Orland Park, IL) added 12 and Graczyk added 10. Carens led the team with four blocks on the day while Reese, Lewkowski, and Braselton each added two.

UP NEXT FOR THE BELLES

Saint Mary's returns home for the final time on Saturday, November 1, as they host Kalamazoo College for their regular season home finale as the team celebrates Senior Day against the Hornets. The Belles close out the season with back-to-back road matches at Albion College on November 5 before closing the season at Olivet on November 8.