RIVER FOREST, Ill. - Saint Mary's College Volleyball earned a sweep on Saturday as they defeated Luther College, 3-1, and Concordia University Chicago, 3-0, at the Maroon and Gold Tri-Match. The Belles improve to 12-8 on the season.
Saint Mary's vs Luther
Saint Mary's and Luther traded points back and forth early in the set before Luther took the first advantage. Saint Mary's bounced back with a quick 4-0 run to take the lead themselves before the Norse retook it with a short three point swing of their own. The Belles then ripped off an incredible 9-1 run to get out to a strong seven point lead and never looked back. The teams would trade points back and forth through the rest of the set before Saint Mary's closed it out with a 5-1 run to win the set, 25-16, and take a 1-0 lead. Senior Caroline Carens (Naperville, IL) led the team with an impressive six kills in the first set while senior Abby Reese (Elkhart, IN) added an incredible nine assists in the set alone.
The two teams stayed close throughout the early portion of the second set with neither getting out to a large lead. The Norse would then go on an 8-2 run to get out to a strong seven point lead midway through the set. While the Belles tried to battle back and cut the deficit down to three, it wasn't enough as Luther took the set, 25-19, and knotted the match at one apiece. Carens added four more kills in the set to reach double figures while sophomore Lexi Szymanski (Walker, MI) added three. Reese tacked on another five assists in the set.
The Belles and Norse fought back and forth in the third set, keeping one another within striking distance at all times. Saint Mary's got out to a six point lead midway through with the help from a 5-1 run but Luther pulled it right back to two with a 4-0 stretch. The Belles answered with four points of their own before trading back and forth before the Belles closed out the third set, 25-19, taking a 2-1 lead. Sophomore Shannon Rudge (Granger, IN) led the team with five kills in the set while Szymanski tallied four more. Junior Giuliana Graczyk (Chicago, IL) added seven assists in the set to reach double figures.
While the two teams continued to fight over points one after another, Luther found themselves out in front after a 5-0 run put them ahead, 15-11. The Belles stormed back with five points of their own to retake the lead. They continued to trade points back and forth before the Norse took a late lead. With Luther on the verge of extending the match, Saint Mary's used a 5-2 run to shut down the match, 25-23, and take a 3-1 win to kick off the day.
Midway through the fourth set, as the score turned 15-13 in favor of Luther, Carens slammed a ball home to tally her 16th and final kill of the match. This would also secure her 1,000th career kill. Carens becomes just the ninth player in program history, and the first since 2019 (Nicole Lukens) to record 1,000 kills in her Saint Mary's career. She also becomes just the second middle hitter in program history, joining Karen Lorton (1989-92) as the only middles to reach the century mark.
Carens led the team with her 16 kills on the day while Szymanski followed closely with 13. Rudge also tacked on nine. Reese tallied a team high 23 assists while Graczyk joined her in double figures with 18. Szymanski also led the team with three service aces on the afternoon.
Defensively, sophomore Molly Boyle (Palos Heights, IL) led the team with an impressive 29 dig performance. Szymanski and Rudge also added 12 digs each. Carens would also lead the team with three block assists on the match.
Saint Mary's vs Concordia Chicago
After Concordia took the first point of the match, Saint Mary's rattled off seven straight points that was aided by four kills from Carens. The Cougars would add another point before the Belles ripped off another incredible 10-0 run to get out to an impressive 15-2 lead. In the 10-0 run, the Belles forced six attacking errors from the Cougars. Saint Mary's closed out the set allowing just four more points enroute to their dominant 25-6 win to take a 1-0 lead. Carens led the team with five kills in the set while freshman Bridget O'Connell (Tinley Park, IL) added three, both hitting a perfect 1.000 in the set.
Concordia took a quick 4-1 lead early in the second, but Saint Mary's bounced right back and used another five point run to take the lead. The Cougars would tie the match up to set off a train of both teams trading points back and forth with neither getting out to a lead larger than three. As Concordia took a 19-17 lead late, the Belles would use another dominating 8-0 run, aided by strong serving from Szymanski, including two aces, to take the second set, 25-19, and take a 2-0 lead. Szymanski and Rudge each added five kills in the set alone to jump to a team high seven on the match. Graczyk added an impressive eight assists in the set as well to jump to 13.
The teams battled back and forth early in the third before Concordia got out to a strong six point lead. Saint Mary's would storm back with an 8-1 run to take their first lead of the set at the midway point. While the two went back to trading points, the Cougars looked poised to extend the match as they took a two point lead late. The Belles bounced right back into it and closed out the third set on a 5-1 run to take the set, 25-23, and seal the match sweep.
Szymanski led the team with 11 kills on the match and was followed by Rudge and Carens with nine and seven each. All three would finish with hitting percentages above .350 while Rudge finished with the highest at .364. Graczyk added 18 assists in the match while Reese added eight of her own. Szymanski would also add five service aces while Carens totalled three.
Defensively, Boyle tallied a match high 16 digs while Rudge and Carens added the lone block assists for the Belles.
UP NEXT FOR THE BELLES
Saint Mary's is back at home on Tuesday, October 13, for their annual Pink Out game to raise money for breast cancer awareness as they host 14th ranked Calvin University at 7pm.
