ALMA, Mich. - The Saint Mary's volleyball team was on the short side of a 3-1 (19-25, 25-14, 25-22, 25-17) final at Alma on Wednesday evening.

 

Trailing 11-6 in the opening set, the Belles chipped away at the deficit with a three-point spurt on kills by Shay Theile and Cali Allen prior to an Alma attack error. The two teams went back-and-forth before Alma had consecutive kills for a 16-12 lead. but Saint Mary's countered with a 4-0 run with kills by Grace Braselton, Mia Shields, and Cali Allen to knot the score at 16-16. The Scots regained the lead again as Alma pulled ahead 19-17. The Belles, however, had the upper hand down the stretch as Saint Mary's closed out the set with a huge 8-0 run. Courtney Pelletier started the run with an ace, served up another ace for set point, and Cali Allen put the set away with a kill for the Belles as Saint Mary's took the set 25-19.

 

The second set saw Alma use a 7-0 run midway through the stanza to build a 17-5 lead. Saint Mary's was unable to string together more than two points at a time in the set. Down 23-10, a ball handling error gave the Belles the serve, and Emma Watford provided a big ace late. Two points later, Cali Allen and Shay Theile put down a block to fight off set point. A ball handling error against Alma kept the Belles alive, but the Scots used a kill to take the set and tie the match at one set apiece.

 

Saint Mary's jumped out to a 5-1 lead early in the third set, and three consecutive points on a kill by Shay Theile followed by back-to-back aces by Theile put the Belles ahead 8-2. The Scots used a four-point spurt a short while later to tie the set at 10-10. Saint Mary's continued to have an answer in the third stanza as the Belles edged back ahead after ties at 13-13 and 14-14. Mia Shields and Grace Braselton had back-to-back kills for an 18-15 lead. With Saint Mary's holding a 20-18 lead a short while later, Alma went on a set-changing and match-changing run with five consecutive points for a 23-20 lead to take the momentum. Cali Allen and Colleen McCarthy each put down big kills late in the set to pull Saint Mary's within two points, but a service error gave Alma the 25-22 win.

 

The Scots went up 7-3 in the fourth set, but the Belles came right back with a 5-1 run with a kill by Karla Rigan and a pair of aces by Theile to knot the game at 8-8. With the score tied 9-9, Alma put three consecutive points on the scoreboard for a 12-9 lead. The teams traded points back-and-forth before a 6-2 run by the host Scots put Alma ahead 19-13. Two Colleen McCarthy kills put Saint Mary's within five points at 19-14 and 20-15, but the deficit was too large to overtake on the Scots' home court as Alma claimed the set 25-17 for the match.

 

Colleen McCarthy had 12 kills and added 14 digs on the night. Cali Allen posted 12 kills of her own and picked up six digs with a pair of block assists. Shay Theile added six kills and served a team-high four aces to go along with a solo block and two block assists. Grace Braselton and Mia Shields each had five kills as Braselton posted a solo block. Karla Rigan posted 40 assists with seven digs and an ace. Courtney Pelletier put up a match-high 18 digs and had two service aces, and Emma Watford tallied 11 digs and an ace. Delaney Martin chipped in four digs on the night.

 

The Belles (3-14, 0-5 MIAA) return home and have a break from conference play as they host Beloit on Friday at 6:00 p.m. for the team's annual Dig Pink Match to benefit United Health Services.