NOTRE DAME, Ind. - Saint Mary's College Volleyball kept their win streak alive with a 3-1 victory over Franklin College on Tuesday night. The Belles improve to 8-0 on the season while the Grizzlies fall to 5-7 on the year.

Saint Mary's started off with a tight first set victory, 27-25. Six Belles would get on the board with kills in the set with junior Caroline Carens (Naperville, IL) leading the team with five. The Grizzlies would outkill the Belles, 18-14, but this did not stop the Belles from pulling away to take the set.

Franklin would come back to take the second set, 25-21 to even the match at one. The Belles would stay even throughout, but had their late comeback halted by the Grizzlies.

Saint Mary's would take the third set, 25-21. After both teams traded points throughout the set, the Belles would use multiple runs of five points to take home the set and take the lead in the match. Carens would move into double-digit kills with 12 while both sophomore Giuliana Graczyk (Chicago, IL) and junior Abby Reese (Elkhart, IN) moved into double-digit assists with 15 and 14 respectively.

The Belles were able to gain control of the fourth set, 26-24. Belles were up by nine, 22-13, with the Grizzlies going on a 9-1 run which forced the Belles to two timeouts during the run. Saint Mary's took the last two points with a sophomore Kalli Lewkowski (Spring Lake, MI) and senior Grace Braselton (Grand Rapids, MI) kill to finish the match.

Carens would lead the team with 15 kills, making this her fifth straight game with 15 or more kills while also tallying double-digit kills in every match. Lewkowski would add eight and Rudge would finish with seven. Reese would tally 19 assists to lead the Belles while Graczyk would finish with 18. Three Belles finished with double-digit digs as Reese would lead with 12. Seniors Delaney Martin (North Judson, IN) and Karli Fegan (Orland Park, IL) would each add 11 digs.

UP NEXT FOR THE BELLES

Saint Mary's will hit the road this Friday to take on Dominican University at 8pm EDT and then take on Grinnell College and Beloit College in Beloit, WI to finish out the Belles three games in two days. The Belles return home on September 24 to host the University of Olivet in a non-conference matchup.