GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Saint Mary's volleyball team had a 3-0 (25-13, 25-22, 25-10) setback against No. 6 ranked Calvin on Tuesday evening.

 

The first set saw the host Knights jump out to an 11-1 lead and never look back in a 25-13 final. Despite the deficit, the Belles battled until the end of the stanza. A 7-2 run by Saint Mary's late in the set was aided by kills by Colleen McCarthy and Hannah Stacy as the Belles made it an 18-10 score. The Calvin lead, however, was too large to overtake in the set as the Knights claimed a 1-0 overall lead.

 

The second set was tight from start to finish. The two sides battled back-and-forth early before Calvin claimed a 10-4 lead. Allison Thornton and Courtney Pelletier countered with consecutive kills, and the Belles continued to stay within striking distance as a service error a short while later made it a 15-10 Calvin lead. Colleen McCarthy tacked on another kill, and Thornton garnered a solo block in the middle. Molly Pooler and Claire Hennessy put down consecutive kills of their own, and an attack error by the Knights made it an 18-15 score. Both teams had a service error before another kill by Pooler was followed by an attack error by Calvin as the Knights called a timeout clinging to a narrow 20-18 lead. The hosts came out of that timeout and got a kill and an ace as Saint Mary's opted for a timeout of their own. The Belles then used a kill by McCarthy, a double block by McCarthy and Thornton, and a solo block by Hannah Stacy to edge within a point at 22-21. A service error gave a point back to Calvin, but McCarthy put away her fifth kill of the set to make it 23-22. The Knights responded with a kill and a service ace to capture the set by a 25-22 margin.

 

The Knights carried that late momentum into the third set as Calvin used an 11-point run to turn a 4-3 score into a 15-3 lead. The Belles out-scored the Knights 6-3 over the next nine points, which included a kill and a solo block by Molly Pooler. A quick spurt by Calvin made it 22-9, and the Knights took the set 25-10 for the three-set victory.

 

Colleen McCarthy led the Belles with eight kills while hitting .429 on the night. Molly Pooler added seven kills, and Courtney Pelletier put down three kills. Emma Watford paced Saint Mary's with six digs, and Allison Thornton collected two blocks. Claire Hennessy tallied 17 assists.

 

The Belles (5-10, 1-3 MIAA) return home to host Alma on Sunday, October 10 at 2:00 p.m. for a conference match.