NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. - Saint Mary's College Volleyball earned a strong split at the Manchester Tri-Match on Saturday, pulling a reverse sweep to defeat Manchester University, 3-2, and falling in a tight battle with the University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras, 3-1. The Belles move to 9-6 on the year.
Saint Mary's vs Manchester
Manchester started the match strong, taking the first four points of the first set and getting out to a strong five point lead. The Spartans would lead 15-10 heading into the first media timeout and continued to extend their lead to as much as seven. While Saint Mary's tried to mount a comeback late in the set, Manchester closed it out on a 5-0 run to take the 25-16 win and an early 1-0 lead in the match. Senior Caroline Carens (Naperville, IL) led the team with three kills in the set and added a solo block.
While the two teams traded points early in the second set, the Belles went on a 5-0 run to take a short lead aided by three Spartan errors. The teams went back and forth and traded four and five point runs midway through the set to keep one another at arms reach. Manchester would come out with a strong 6-0 to take a three point lead late. The two went back and forth with points as Manchester reached set point. As the Spartans looked to close out the set, the Belles battled right back to knot the match at 24 and extend the game. Manchester would slow it down and take the final two points, winning 26-24, and taking a 2-0 lead early. Carens move up to eight kills on the match with five in the set while sophomore Shannon Rudge (Granger, IN) added six kills in the set alone to join her at eight. Junior Giuliana Graczyk (Chicago, IL) also added nine assists in the set to jump into double figures.
While the two bounced points off one another to start the third set and knot each other up at four. Saint Mary's then ripped off a 6-0 run to get out to an early lead to jump into control. While Manchester jumped back with four straight points of their own, the Belles would fire off another 8-2 run to get out to a strong eight point advantage late. The Spartans wouldn't back out as they used an 8-0 run of their own to tie the match late at 18. While the two traded points and Manchester took a late lead, Saint Mary's used four straight points by forcing three errors on Manchester to take the third set, 25-22, and stay alive in the match. Rudge jumped up to ten kills on the match to hit double digits for the third time this season.
Manchester would get out to an early lead in the fourth set as they tried to close out the match. Saint Mary's bounced right back to even it up midway through as the two teams started going back and forth with points. Going through the media timeout, the Belles used an explosive 10-2 run to separate themselves from the Spartans before closing out the match with a 25-19 win, tying the match at 2 and sending it to a fifth set tiebreaker. The big run was aided by three kills and an ace from sophomore Lexi Szymanski (Walker, MI) and two kills from Carens. Carens totalled five kills in the set to jump up to 14 on the match while Szymanski added four on the set.
The start of the fifth set was a story that had been told throughout the day as the teams traded points early before Manchester got out to a short lead. The Belles would then use a four point stretch to take the lead for themselves and never looked back. The Belles continued to force error after error in the fifth set, forcing five attacking errors and three service errors. The strong defense from the Belles led them to take the fifth set, 15-12, and earn their second reverse sweep of the season, 3-2.
Rudge led the team with a career high 16 kills on the match. Carens followed behind with 14, her 14th match this season with double-digit kills, and Szymanski added a career high of her own with 11 kills. Graczyk and senior Abby Reese (Elkhart, IN) combined for 44 of the teams 48 assists on the match while Graczyk led with 24 and Reese with 20. The two setters also combined for seven service aces, Graczyk adding four and Reese with three.
Defensively, sophomore Molly Boyle (Palos Heights, IL) led with 21 digs, her sixth time this season surpassing 20 or more digs. Carens led the team at the net defensively as she totaled three solo blocks and three block assists while sophomore Maddie Taitano (Tacoma, WA) also added three block assists.
Saint Mary's vs Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras
Neither team could get out to a strong lead in the first set as they traded points back and forth. Rio Piedras would use a 9-1 run to get out to a six point lead heading into the media timeout, aided by six attacking errors for the Belles. The Jerezanas held strong midway through the set before the Belles used a 7-1 run to take the lead late. The teams traded points again before the Jerezanas used three straight kills to take the first set, 25-23. Saint Mary's put up an incredible 19 kills in the first set as both Carens and Szymanski led with six each while Rudge added five of her own.
The two teams went back and forth early in the second set while Rio Piedras took a small lead heading towards the media timeout. Before they could get to the break, the Belles ripped of four straight points to take the lead and never look back. The Belles used multiple short runs and point trading to keep the Jerezanas at bay, leading by as much as five, and taking the second set, 25-19, to tie the match at one. Szymanski jumped up to nine kills on the match in the set with three while Rudge and Carens finished the set with eight. Reese and Graczyk ended the set in double figures for assists, Reese with 13 and Graczyk with 12.
After an early swap of points, the Jerezanas used a dominating 6-0 run with five kills and an ace to get out to a comfortable lead and never look back. While the Belles traded points with them throughout the remainder of the set, they couldn't get back into it as Rio Piedras continued to counter them on every point. Rio Piedras closed the set with four straight points to win, 25-17, and take a 2-1 lead in the match. Rudge added six more kills to her total, bringing her to 14 on the match, while Carens added four and Szymanski with two to join her in double figures with 12 and 11 each. Graczyk jumped to 20 assists with eight in the set.
Rio Piedras got out to another early lead in the fourth set before the Belles bounced right back on a 6-2 run to knot the match at 10. While the Jerezanas got out to another lead, the Belles answered back with runs of their own to take a lead midway through. The two teams battled back and forth all through the end of the set, trading points with one another with no lead growing more than a few points. After being knotted up at 24 each, Rio Piedras closed out the set with three kills as the Belles looked to shut the match down, winning 28-26, and taking the match 3-1.
Rudge set another new career high in kills with 20 on the afternoon while hitting an impressive .370 on the match. Carens followed behind with 17 kills of her own and Szymanski set another career high with 14 kills. As a team the Belles tallied 58 kills, their most in a match this season. Graczyk and Reese combined for 47 more assists as Graczyk led with 27 and Reese finished with 20.
Defensively, Boyle racked up a career best 28 digs on the afternoon to lead the defense while Rudge added 10 of her own. Freshman Bridget O'Connell (Tinley Park, IL) led the team with three block assists while Taitano added two. O'Connell, Taitano, and Carens each had a solo block as well.
UP NEXT FOR THE BELLES
Saint Mary's returns home on Tuesday, September 29, as they host Elmhurst University for their annual Morgan's Message game at 7pm.
