NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. - Saint Mary's College Volleyball saw their undefeated season come to an end with back-to-back losses on Saturday, 3-0 to Manchester University and 3-2 to North Central College. The Belles fall to 12-2 on the season while the Spartans improve to 7-7 and the Cardinals improve to 13-3.

Saint Mary's vs Manchester
After trading points early in the first set, Manchester seemed like they had started to pull away from Saint Mary's and held a comfortable five point lead. The Belles would respond with a four point stretch to pull the match within one with momentum on their side. But the Spartans would bounce right back and go on a 9-3 run to close out the set and take the first set, 25-18. The Spartans would hit an impressive .308 in the set alone.
Saint Mary's would get out to a hot start to open the second set and got out to an early four point lead. While Manchester would have a short run to tie the match up, the Belles would go on an impressive 9-1 run to extend their lead to eight points midway through the set. The Spartans would roar right back and go on their own 9-0 run to take their first lead of the set. After knotting the match up at 23, the Spartans would close out the set with back-to-back points, finishing with an ace to take a 2-0 lead, 25-23.

The Belles would start hot out the gates once again, going up 5-0, aided by a kill and two blocks from junior Caroline Carens (Naperville, IL), before the Spartans could get on the board. While the teams would continue to trade points and short runs, it was Manchester who would come out victorious in the third set, 25-22, to sweep Saint Mary's, handing the Belles their first loss of the season.
Senior Delaney Martin (North Judson, IN) would lead the Belles with eight kills while freshman Shannon Rudge (Granger, IN) would add five. Sophomore Giuliana Graczyk (Chicago, IL) would add eight assists to lead the team while freshman Maddie Taitano (Tacoma, WA) would add seven. Martin and senior Karli Fegan (Orland Park, IL) would each add six digs to lead the team.

Saint Mary's vs North Central
Saint Mary's would jump right back into action following the loss, and got out to a fiery start against North Central. The Belles would get out to a lead as much as seven points ahead of the Cardinals. North Central would bounce right back with a 9-0 run of their own to take their first lead of the set and go ahead by two. Saint Mary's would come right back and retake the lead, a lead which they would not lose. With a couple of short runs, and a three point run to end the set, the Belles would take set one, 25-22. The Belles would hit an incredible .536 in the set while tallying 16 kills alone.
The two teams would trade the lead back and forth in the second set, not letting one another get more than a few points ahead. North Central would take the lead with a 6-0 run before Saint Mary's would take it right back with a 5-0 run of their own. While the teams traded points following, the Belles would use a 4-0 run to see them go ahead by two points late in the set. But the Cardinals wouldn't slow down as they would close out the set on a 6-1 run to tie the match at one point each.
While both teams would trade points early in the third set, the Cardinals would get out to a quick lead. While the Belles would cut the deficit to as little as one in the set, it wouldn't be enough as North Central would continue to keep Saint Mary's at bay and take a 2-1 lead with a 25-20 victory in the third set.
With their backs against the wall, the Belles would come out firing and dominate the Cardinals in the fourth set. Saint Mary's would use two runs of four and one run of five points to get out to a 20-7 lead in the fourth set. The Belles would use five service aces while also forcing nine errors by the Cardinals to get out to the 13-point lead. While North Central would try and mount a comeback, Saint Mary's would hold strong and match them every point to the end of the set, winning 25-12, and forcing a fifth set tiebreaker. The Belles offense would dominate, hitting .438 in the set.
North Central would dominate the fifth set early on, starting the set on an 8-0 run before the teams would switch sides. While Saint Mary's would try to bounce back, the Cardinals would match them every step of the way as they would take the set, 15-8, and the match, 3-2.

Carens would lead the team with 17 kills while senior Grace Braselton (Grand Rapids, MI) would add eight and sophomore Kalli Lewkowski (Spring Lake, MI) added seven. Lewkowski would also hit an incredible .545 on the match while Carens would hit an outstanding .370. Graczyk would lead the Belles with an amazing 31 assists, one shy of her career best. Fegan would lead the team with 13 digs while Graczyk would add four service aces on her own. Rudge would also tally three service aces.

UP NEXT FOR THE BELLES
Saint Mary's returns home for back-to-back matches to open MIAA play. The Belles open conference play on Tuesday, September 30, as they host Alma College at 7pm. They then welcome in Hope College on Friday, October 3, for a 7pm start.
On the September 30th matchup with the Scots, the Belles will be celebrating their annual Red Glasses Game while the October 3rd matchup with the Flying Dutch will be the annual Dig Pink Match.