NOTRE DAME, Ind. - Saint Mary's College Volleyball hosted their annual Dig Pink game on Friday night, but despite a hard-fought effort, the Belles fell short to 13th-ranked Hope College. The loss drops the Belles to 12-4 (0-2 MIAA) on the season, while the Flying Dutch moved up to 13-4 (2-0 MIAA). 
 
The energy in Angela Athletic and Wellness Center was buzzing as over 150 spectators gathered for a must-watch matchup. Saint Mary's was hungry to snap their losing streak, while Hope entered ranked 13th nationally in Division III Volleyball. Though the Belles ultimately came up short, they pushed the Flying Dutch to the brink and displayed a level of play not often seen this season.

The first set was a back-and-forth battle while both teams struggled to grab a hold of the scoreboard, with long, aggressive rallies and few points given away on unforced errors. Both teams defended the net well with strong blocking coverage, but offensively, Hope came out on top with 19 kills to Saint Mary's 11. Despite the low number of kills players like freshman Shannon Rudge (Granger, IN), sophomore Kalli Lewkowski (Spring Lake, MI), and junior Caroline Carens (Naperville, IL) each tallied three kills, which was an extremely strong individual effort given the team given the team's overall lower kill total. The back-and-forth lasted until the last five points of the set, when the Flying Dutch were able to go on a five-point scoring run and close out the set 25-20.

The second set lacked the intensity of the first, as Hope gradually pulled ahead of Saint Mary's, they controlled the pace of the game. The Dutch claimed the set 25-16, outkilling the Belles 14-10. Lewkowski and Carens continued to stack up their kills, while senior Delaney Martin (North Judson, IN), made her presence felt garnering another two kills. Defensively, Saint Mary's held strong at the back court against Hope, finishing the set with 21 digs compared to the Flying Dutch's 18.

The third set was where the nail-biting started, especially because Saint Mary's stormed out to a very strong 5-1 lead with kills from Lewkowski, Martin, and junior Abby Reese (Elkhart, IN.); however, Hope responded quickly with runs fueled by their outside attackers to even the score. From there, the teams played tug-of-war with the score, with neither side ever leading with more than two points. The Belles were extremely close to stealing the set when they took advantage of hitting errors from the Flying Dutch to build a 17-13 lead, but Hope crawled back with many kills and service aces that came at a crucial time. The Belles continued to battle until the very end, with kills from Martin, Rudge, and Carens pushing the score to 24-24. Ultimately, The Flying Dutch shut down the game with back-to-back kills and won 26-24 and the match 3-0.

Lewkowski led the Belles with 11 kills, while Carens was close behind putting up 9, and Martin and Rudge tied with 6. Sophomore Guliana Graczyk led with 15 assists and Resse was close behind with 13. Defensively Martin and Senior Karli Fagan tied for 10 digs and overall the team had three blocks. 

Special thanks to the boys from Dunne Hall for coming to support Saint Mary's Volleyball and bringing a new energy to the stands! 
 
UP NEXT FOR THE BELLES
Saint Mary's heads on a three-game road trip starting on October 8 at Trine University. The Belles then head to Calvin University on October 14, and a non-conference matchup at Elmhurst University on October 17. The Belles return home to host Adrian College over fall break on October 22.