Mullin surpasses 1,000 career digs, women’s volleyball team falls to Saint Mary’s

OLIVET, Mich. – Senior Drue Mullin surpassed the 1,000-career dig plateau but the Olivet College women's volleyball team fell to Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) foe Saint Mary's (Ind.) College in four sets (25-15, 21-25, 25-13, 25-14) this evening at the Cutler Event Center.

Final Score: Saint Mary's defeated Olivet 25-15, 21-25, 25-13, 25-14
Location: Cutler Event Center; Olivet, Michigan
Records: Olivet 6-8 overall, 1-2 MIAA; Saint Mary's 5-8 overall, 1-2 MIAA

• After the first set was knotted at 6-6, the Belles went on an 8-1 run to take a 14-7 lead. The Comets closed the gap to three points on three occasions. After the last time at 16-13, a 7-0 Saint Mary's run made the score 23-13. The Belles scored two of the next four points to take the set 25-15.
• Olivet raced out to a 9-2 advantage in the second set. The Comets pushed their lead to nine points, 16-7, before Saint Mary's used a 5-0 run to make the score 16-12. A 3-1 Olivet run extended Olivet's lead back to six points, 19-13. The Belles did not go away, as they put four straight points on the scoreboard before back-to-back Comet kills made the score 21-17. Saint Mary's had one more answer, scoring three consecutive points to close the gap to a single point, 21-20. Two Olivet kills and a service ace made the score 24-20. The Belles fought off one set point before a Comet kill ended the set.
•  The early stage of the third set was back-and-forth, as neither team held more than a two-point lead through the first 22 points. After an 11-11 tie, three straight attack errors handed a three-point lead to the Belles. The Comets made the score 14-12 before nine consecutive points for Saint Mary's put the set out of reach for the Comets.
• The Belles scored the first two points of the fourth set and never looked back.

• Olivet finished the match with 36 total kills.
• Junior Ellie Louiselle led the way with 12 kills, followed by sophomores Morgan Dillon and Olivia DuFore with eight apiece.
• Junior Kennedy Blackburn finished with 28 set assists.
• Mullin tallied a match-best 23 digs to give her 1,010 in her career. She is only the fifth women's volleyball player in school history to have more than 1,000 digs.

• The Belles tallied 44 total kills.
• Collen McCarthy recorded a match-high 14 kills.
• Courtney Pelletier added 11 kills to go along with a team-best 17 digs.
• Molly Pooler registered 10 kills.
• Claire Hennessey dished out a match-best 38 set assists.

• Olivet travels to Chicago Saturday for a non-league triangular. The Comets face Milwaukee School of Engineering (Wis.) at 3 p.m., followed by a match against host Illinois Institute of Technology.