NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Saint Mary's volleyball team dropped a conference match to No. 7 ranked Hope by a 3-0 (25-13, 25-15, 25-7) score on Friday night.

 

The Flying Dutch gained control of the first set with a 8-1 run to build a 10-2 lead. After a timeout later in the set, the Belles came out of the break with a double block by Allison Thornton and Hannah Stacy before an attack error by Hope gave Saint Mary's back-to-back points. Hannah Stacy added a kill, and Molly Pooler put away a kill to make it a 23-13 score. A service error by the Belles followed by a Hope kill, however, lifted the Flying Dutch to the 25-13 set win.

 

The second set was tightly contested through the first several points as the Belles came up with responses to the Flying Dutch early. Allison Thornton had a kill, and Molly Pooler and Hannah Stacy teamed up for a block to keep Saint Mary's within striking distance at 8-5. Hope swayed the momentum in their favor a short while later as a 6-0 scoring spurt put the Flying Dutch ahead 18-7. The Belles continued to battle down the stretch. Thornton, Stacy, and Shay Theile each put down a kill to help spur a 4-1 scoring surge. Hope responded with three of the next four points to go up 24-14 before closing out the set with a kill for a 25-15 win.

 

The Flying Dutch opened the third set with a 7-2 lead, but three consecutive points for the Belles put Saint Mary's right back into the mix at 7-5. Hope, however, strung together the next 17 points in-a-row for a 24-5 advantage before closing out the match with the 25-7 win in the set.

 

Hannah Stacy and Colleen McCarthy each had four kills for the Belles while Shay Theile and Molly Pooler each tallied three kills. McCarthy and Theile each picked up seven digs, and McCarthy notched a pair of service aces. Stacy recorded a pair of block assists, and Claire Hennessy had 15 assists.

 

The Belles (4-8, 0-2 MIAA) travel to Olivet on Wednesday, September 29 for a 7:00 p.m. conference match against the Comets.