GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Saint Mary's College Volleyball fell to the one seed, 14th ranked Calvin University, 3-0, in the MIAA Tournament Semi-Finals on Friday night. The Belles season comes to an end with a 17-11 record while the Knights improve to 24-3.
The two teams traded points early in the first set to kick off the match as they kept answering one another. Calvin then ripped off a strong 12-0 run to get out to an 11 point lead and never looked back, taking a 25-11 win in the first set to go ahead 1-0. Sophomore Shannon Rudge (Granger, IN) added three kills while senior Abby Reese (Elkhart, IN) added six assists to lead the team.
Calvin continued their hot start in the second as they got out to a short lead early on. Saint Mary's bounced right back with an 8-3 run to cut the deficit to one midway through the set. The Knights then used a few short runs to extend their lead and saw it through the end of the set, taking it 25-18 and go up, 2-0. Senior Caroline Carens (Naperville, IL) added four kills in the set while freshman Bridget O'Connell (Tinley Park, IL) added three. Reese would tack on eight more assists to jump to 14 on the night.
The Knights got out to a quick 7-1 lead to get a safe distance from the Belles in the third set. Saint Mary's would trade points back and forth with Calvin to try and mount a comeback midway through the set. Calvin closed out the set with a 25-15 win to complete their 3-0 victory.
Carens led the team with nine kills while Rudge added six and O'Connell finished with five. Reese would tally a team high 17 assists on the night. Defensively, sophomore Molly Boyle (Palos Heights, IL) added a team high 12 digs while Carens added two solo blocks.
Saint Mary's ends the season with a 17-11 record while also going 5-3 in MIAA play. The 17 wins was the most in a season for the Belles since 2008. This helped the Belles to the four seed in the MIAA Tournament, giving them the chance to host a postseason match for the first time since 2008. In their first round win over Trine University, it was the program's first postseason win since 2007.
