SANDUSKY, Ohio - The Saint Mary's volleyball team fought their way to a 3-0 (26-24, 27-25, 25-23) sweep over Capital before falling to Bluffton in a 3-0 (25-22, 25-14, 25-20) setback to close out the weekend.

 

The Belles battled from start to finish to earn the sweep against Capital in the opener. Saint Mary's broke a 21-21 tie in the first set with three consecutive points for a 24-21 lead. The Comets responded with a run to tie the set before a service error by Capital and a service ace by Cali Allen gave the set to the Belles. The second set saw kills by Mia Shields and Bethany DiSilvestro break a 25-25 tie and put Saint Mary's ahead two sets to none. The Belles held off a late comeback effort by Capital in the third set. A kill by Shay Theile put the Belles up match-point, and Kennedy Oselka put away the set and the match two points later with a kill for the sweep.

 

Mia Shields posted a .364 hitting effort with 10 kills, three aces, five digs, and a pair of block assists to pace the all-around efforts. Shay Theile hit .438 with eight kills, three aces, and two block assists. Cali Allen chipped in eight kills and seven digs. Bethany DiSilvestro had a team-best eight digs, and Shani Russell put up 27 assists, seven digs, an ace, and a block assist. Caroline Carens had two solo blocks and a block assist to go along with four kills in the win.

 

The opening set against Bluffton had 14 ties and seven lead changes in a tightly contested match. With the score knotted at 20-20, the Beavers captured four consecutive points for a 24-20 lead. Mia Shields put away a kill, and an attack error by Bluffton kept the set alive before the Beavers used a kill to take the opener. Bluffton took six of the first seven points contested in the second set and never trailed in a 25-14 stanza. Ten ties and seven lead changes occured in the third set, but the Beavers again had the upper hand after turning an 18-17 lead into a 23-19 advantage before closing out the set 25-20.

 

Cali Allen led the Belles in the second match of the day with 10 kills while hitting .304. Kennedy Oselka put down five kills and picked up seven digs. Delaney Martin chipped in four kills. Bethan DiSilvestro led the team with 11 digs. Shani Russell posted 11 assists and four digs while Abby Reese had six assists. 

 

The Belles (2-2) are back on the court on Friday when they travel to Wooster for the NCAC-MIAA Crossover. Saint Mary's opens play against Kenyon at 4:30 p.m.