Belles Prevail Against Scots in MIAA Opener
Saint Mary's Stories
- Rachel Bonek led all players with 14 kills while putting up 12 digs for her second career double-double.
- Morgan VanderWey picked up a double-double of her own with 26 assists and 12 digs.
- Audrey Shannon had a match-best 22 digs and Lindsey Pelletier led all players with six blocks.
ALMA, Mich. - The Saint Mary's volleyball team picked up a 3-1 (28-26, 25-14, 16-25, 25-19) victory over Alma in both teams' first MIAA match of the 2017 season on Wednesday night.
The opening set saw the Belles battle back from a late deficit and stave off a pair of set points against the Scots. Trailing 22-18, Saint Mary's rattled off a big four-point run. Rachel Bonek put down a kill, Lindsey Pelletier followed suit with a kill of her own, and the pair combined for a block to make it 22-21. Marielle Corbett came up with a huge service ace to knot the score at 22-22. The Scots went up 24-23 just a few points later on a Saint Mary's service error, but the Belles capitalized on an Alma miscue of a bad set on the next point. Saint Mary's fought off another set point as Leah Buck came through with a kill to tie the set 25-25. Marielle Corbett hammered home a kill, and Alma had an attack error as the Belles came through with a 28-26 opening-set win.
That late momentum carried over into the second stanza as Saint Mary's built a big 8-1 lead. The Belles held at least a five-point lead and never looked back in a 25-14 second set win. Saint Mary's posted a .261 attack percentage in the set while Alma had a -.200 hitting effort over the same stretch. The third set, however, saw both the hitting efficiencies and the scores almost flip-flop. The Scots put up a .229 hitting while the Belles had a -.029 as Alma kept the match alive with a 25-16 set win.
Holding on to an 11-10 lead in the fourth set, Saint Mary's was able to distance themselves from Alma with a 6-0 scoring spurt. The Scots were unable to get within fewer than four points of the Belles down the stretch as Saint Mary's closed out the win with a 25-19 decision in the set.
Rachel Bonek led all players with 14 kills while putting up 12 digs for her second career double-double. Leah Buck added eight kills while Marielle Corbett and Lindsey Pelletier each chipped in five. Pelletier helped put down a match-high six blocks. Morgan VanderWey picked up a double-double of her own with 26 assists and 12 digs. Audrey Shannon had a match-best 22 digs, and Corbett posted 15 digs, two aces, and three block assists.
The Belles (1-2, 1-0 MIAA) have their home opener on Friday, September 8 when they host Kalamazoo at 7:00 p.m. at the Angela Athletic & Wellness Complex.