NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Saint Mary's volleyball team took a 3-1 (25-8, 18-25, 25-22, 25-18) win over Kalamazoo in a non-conference match for Senior Night on Friday night.

 

The Belles jumped out to an 8-0 lead and never looked back in the opening set. The Belles hit .393 in the set with an 88.0 percent sideout percentage while limiting the Hornets to a -.088 hitting percentage. Karla Rigan helped set the tone on her Senior Night with a .500 effort in the set with five kills and just one error on eight attempts.

 

Saint Mary's battled from behind early to go ahead 6-5 on three consecutive Caroline Carens kills. Kalamazoo responded by taking nine of the next ten points, however, to build a 14-7 lead. The Belles tried to chip away at things and pulled within three points at 18-15, but the Hornets took the next two points for a 20-15 lead. Carens put away a kill to make it 20-16 before Kalamazoo took the next three points for a 23-16 advantage. A pair of miscues late gave the Hornets the set by a 25-18 score.

 

The third set featured 10 ties and two lead changes as both sides fought to take the crucial lead. Kalamazoo found a way to take leads after ties at 16-16, 17-17, 18-18, and 19-19. The Belles, however, broke a 20-20 tie with a block by Shay Theile and Cali Allen. Kalamazoo knotted things up again at 21-21, but a Theile kill followed by a block by Theile and Karla Rigan put the home side up 23-21. An attack error by Kalamazoo gave the Belles set-point, and a service error two points later lifted the Belles to the 25-22 win.

 

Again, both sides jockeyed for position and the lead in the fourth set. Saint Mary's broke a 10-10 tie with a kill and an ace by Cali Allen. Kalamazoo was within two points a few moments later at 15-13, but a Kennedy Oselka kill and a block by Caroline Carens and Shani Russell put Saint Mary's up 17-13 as Kalamazoo called a timeout. The Hornets edged within two points yet again at 17-15, but the Belles continued to have the answer with a kill by Carens. Shay Theile and Karla Rigan registered back-to-back kills to push the lead to 22-16, and an attack error followed by a kill by Oselka put the set and the match away with a 25-18 win in the fourth frame.

 

The Belles had three players with double-digit kills and each hit over .250 in the win. Caroline Carens led all players with 13 kills, Cali Allen put away 11 kills, and Karla Rigan had a career-high 10 kills on her senior night. Carens had three blocks and an ace. Allen picked up a double-double with 11 digs while serving an ace and putting away a block. Rigan tallied a pair of blocks on the night. Shay Theile had eight kills with no errors on 12 attempts to hit .667 while putting down three blocks. Shani Russell posted a double-double with 45 assists and 10 digs with two blocks. Karli Fegan led all players with 18 digs, and Mia Shields tallied seven digs with an ace.

 

The Belles (6-12, 1-5 MIAA) have their final home match of the season on Wednesday, November 1 when they host Adrian for a conference contest starting at 7:00 p.m.