SMC VOLLEYBALL: Belles fall to Alma, sweep past Rochester
By KATIE McVOY
Associate Sports Editor
Communication was key to the Belles in a 1-1 weekend finish.
After dropping the first match to Alma 3-0, Saint Mary's stepped up play and solidified team communication for a 3-0 win against Rochester.
"I thought we communicated a lot better in the second game compared to the first game," senior Jamie Dineen said. "That was basically the key."
The increased communication allowed the Saint Mary's defense to dominate Saturday afternoon. The Belles held Rochester to 49 total points, keeping the team under 20 in all three games. Meanwhile, the Saint Mary's offense kicked in and picked up the pace.
"We ran a really quick offense to stay up and keep on our toes," Dineen said.
With captain and leading defender Angie Meyers out with a torn ACL, the young members of the team had to step up play, which they did very well.
Freshman Alison Shevik led the team with 14 digs, 13 kills and 28 total attacks.
"[Shevik's] been doing great," Dineen said. "All the underclassmen are stepping up and our coach is trying new girls at different positions."
A solid 30-15 victory in game one of the match got the Belles off on the right foot. They took the lead early in all three games and never looked back, taking game two 30-18 and game three 30-16. After a long stretch of close losses, the win put them back on the right track.
"We're very happy, very glad to win," Dineen said. "We feel that in a lot of our games in the conference we've played really well but our record doesn't justify how we played."
Match one didn't go as well for the Belles. For the fifth consecutive time, the Belles fell to MIAA competition. This time they fell to the Scots of Alma.
"In that game we seemed a little slow getting to the ball," Dineen said. "We weren't really talking, there was a lack of communication."
The first game was close. The teams traded points, but Alma came out with the 30-27 win.
Games two and three were not as close. The Scots took control of play, recording 10 aces to the Belles' three. They wrapped up game two 30-17 and game three 30-22.
"We seemed so slow the first game ... we knew what we had to do, but we just didn't get the job done," Dineen said.
Senior Jolie LeBeau led the Belles offense with nine kills and 24 total attacks. Shevik again led the defense with 16 digs and one block.
The loss dropped Saint Mary's to 1-6 in the MIAA and 2-11 overall. The Belles will take on the Britons of Albion on Wednesday at Albion.
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, October 2, 2001
