NOTRE DAME, Ind. - Saint Mary's College Volleyball kept their opening win streak alive with an emphatic 3-2 victory over Manchester University on Friday night. The Belles improve to 7-0 on the season while the Spartans fall to 4-4.
Saint Mary's got things going early as they would take the first set, 25-20. Six Belles would get on the score sheet with kills in the set while junior Caroline Carens (Naperville, IL) would lead the team with three. Although they were outkilled in the set, Saint Mary's would hold Manchester to a .000 hitting percentage in the set.
Manchester would come back and take the second set, but not before the Belles would finish the set strongly, 25-23. Carens and sophomore Kalli Lewkowski (Spring Lake, MI) would both finish the set with five kills each.
After the Spartans would take a quick lead in the third set, the Belles would come back strong and finish the set on a 7-1 run to retake the lead in the match with a 25-22 victory. Carens would move up to nine kills in the match while Lewkowski and senior Delaney Martin (North Judson, IN) would reach eight each. Junior Abby Reese (Elkhart, IN) and sophomore Giuliana Graczyk (Chicago, IL) would both move into double figures in assists.
Manchester would come out and dominate the fourth set, taking the set 25-12, to move the match into a fifth set tiebreaker. The Spartans would tally 12 kills in the set while hitting .258.
Saint Mary's would get out to an early five point lead halfway through the final set. But after both teams would trade points, Manchester would bounce right back and make it a one point match at the end. Carens would take a beautiful set from Graczyk to slam home the victory for the Belles and keep their undefeated season alive, 15-13.
Carens would lead the team with 17 kills while Lewkowski and Martin would finish with eight each. Reese would tally 21 assists to lead the Belles while Graczyk would finish with 18. Three Belles finished with double-digit digs as Martin would lead with 16. Reese would add 14 while senior Karli Fegan (Orland Park, IL) would total 12. Carens would also tally a career high five solo blocks in the win.
UP NEXT FOR THE BELLES
Saint Mary's concludes the homestand on Tuesday, September 16, as they host Franklin College for a 7pm matchup. The match with the Grizzlies will also be the annual Morgan's Message game. The Belles then head on the road for three games in two days on September 19-20.
