NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Saint Mary's volleyball team battled their way to a 3-1 (25-22, 15-25, 30-28, 25-22) home conference win over Trine on Friday night.

 

The opening stanza featured ten ties and four lead changes as both teams fought to claim the first set. With the score knotted up at 14-14, the Belles got back-to-back points on kills from Patricia Settlemier and Grace Braselton. A Caroline Carens kill and an attack error by the Thunder moments later extended the lead to 18-15. Grace Braselton put away a kill, Caroline Carens served up an ace, and Mia Shields added a kill to put the Belles up 21-16 with the biggest lead of the set. The Thunder pulled within two points at 22-20, but a service error followed by another Braselton kill gave the Belles set point at 24-20. Trine kept the set alive with a pair of points, but Braselton put away the set with a solo block for the 25-22 win.

 

The Belles were unable to string more than two consecutive points together over the span of the second set. The Thunder, meanwhile, turned an 11-8 advantage into a 15-8 lead with a quick spurt of points. Another quick collection of points by Trine pushed the visiting side's lead to 20-11. The Belles got back-to-back points with a Shay Theile kill and a Trine attack error, but Saint Mary's was unable to chase down the deficit in a 25-15 final in the second set.

 

The third set, meanwhile, saw 16 ties and five lead changes. With the score tied 17-17, Trine pulled ahead with five consecutive points to gain a 22-17 lead. A ball handling error followed by an attack error gave Saint Mary's two points, but the Thunder got a kill on the next point to gain a 23-19 edge. The Belles took advantage of a bad set by the Thunder and an attack error to pull within a point at 23-22. Caroline Carens then put away a big kill to knot things up at 23-23. An attack error by the Belles, however, saw the Thunder go up set-point at 24-23. Mia Shields had the answer this time with a kill for another tied score. Trine again gained the lead before Carens and Shani Russell put down a block. The Thunder gained set-point advantages again at 26-25, 27-26, and 28-27 while the Belles refused to give up and continued to find an answer. Patricia Settlemier had a kill before Cali Allen served up an ace to give Saint Mary's the set-point lead at 29-28. Delaney Martin then put away a kill while drawing a Trine blocker into the net on the play for the 30-28 win in front of a boisterous home crowd. 

 

The Belles held onto that momentum and turned a 4-4 fourth set into a 19-9 lead. Saint Mary's got it done on both sides of the net during that stretch with kills from Shay Theile, Mia Shields, Shani Russell, and Cali Allen along with blocks by Caroline Carens, and Russell. A late run by the Thunder made things interesting at 24-22, but the Belles closed out the win with a 25-22 set victory.

 

Overall, the match featured 30 ties and 12 lead changes over the four-set span.

 

The Belles had a trio of players with 12 kills apiece. Grace Braselton had 12 kills on a .321 hitting night and added 15 digs to set new career-high marks in both categories. Caroline Carens put away 12 kills and had a solo block, four block assists, and two service aces. Cali Allen also had 12 kills with 15 digs on the night. Mia Shields just missed out on double digit kills after hammering down nine to go along with 11 digs. Shay Theile chipped in five kills, and Patricia Settlemier added four. Shani Russell collected a double-double with 43 assists and 12 digs, and Karli Fegan picked up 14 digs.

 

The Belles (5-10, 1-3 MIAA) are back in action on Wednesday, October 18 when they host Alma at 7:00 p.m.