Belles Sink Vikings in Pittsburgh

Box Score

• Nicole Lukens led the Belles with 16 kills and added 19 digs and three blocks.
• Hannah Stacy matched her season-high with 12 kills to go along with five digs.
• Morgan VanderWey posted 46 assists, six kills, and eight digs with a .417 attack percentage.

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Saint Mary's volleyball team avenged a loss from earlier in the season as the Belles took down North Park in a 3-1 (25-23, 28-26, 21-25, 25-20) final on day one of the Carnegie Mellon Tournament.

The Belles broke a 5-5 tie in the first set with three consecutive points with Hannah Stacy putting down a pair of kills. An Alyssa Chong ace a short while later gave Saint Mary's a 13-9 edge, and three consecutive kills by Nola Wallace moments later pushed the Belles' lead to 17-12. North Park came storming back with a 6-0 run to take an 18-17 lead, but Saint Mary's countered with their own 5-0 run to regain the lead at 21-18. The Vikings twice edged within a point late in the set. Hannah Stacy registered her seventh kill of the set for a 23-21 lead, and Alyssa Chong closed out the set with a kill for the 25-23 win.

The second set saw the Vikings take an early lead and hold a 10-8 edge. Saint Mary's took advantage of a service error before getting kills from Morgan VanderWey, Nicole Lukens, and Hannah Stacy a short while later for a 13-12 lead. Claire Hennessy served up an ace to put the Belles up 14-12, and Saint Mary's did not trail again for the remainder of the set. North Park made it tight late by tying the score at 20-20, 21-21, 22-22, 23-23, 24-24, 25-25, and 26-26, but Saint Mary's had an answer every time for the Vikings. Chong had a pair of big kills for points 23 and 24, and VanderWey put the Belles up set-point at 25-24. Nicole Lukens added a pair of late kills for points 26 and 27 while Lindsey Pelletier closed out the win with a kill for the 28-26 score.

Neither side was able to establish larger than a two-point lead in the third set until North Park went ahead 22-19 with a block and a kill. The Vikings extended their lead to four points late in the set with a kill and a Saint Mary's attack error. The Belles then benefited from a North Park service error to keep the set alive, but the Vikings were able to take the stanza by a 25-21 score on a kill on the next point.

The Belles came out with a vengeance in the fourth set as Saint Mary's jumped to a 13-4 lead which included a 7-0 run. The teams traded points back-and-forth for much of the set as the Belles held onto a 21-13 lead later in the action. The Vikings did not go down without a fight as North Park rattled off four consecutive points to make it a 21-17 score. Nicole Lukens put a stop to the scoring run, and Nola Wallace put down a kill for a 23-18 Saint Mary's lead. A service error put the Belles up set-point at 24-19, and Chong shut the door on the Vikings and the match with a kill for the 25-20 win two points later.

Nicole Lukens led the Belles with 16 kills and added 19 digs and three blocks. Hannah Stacy matched her season-high with 12 kills to go along with five digs. Alyssa Chong tallied 11 kills and two blocks. Morgan VanderWey posted 46 assists, six kills, and eight digs with a .417 attack percentage. Audrey Shannon shared match-high honors with 31 digs, and Brittney Tarkanyi (16) and Claire Hennessy (10) each collected double-digit digs on the night.

The Belles (11-15) take on Arcadia at 11:00 a.m. and host Carnegie Mellon at 1:00 p.m. on day two of the tournament on Saturday.