Women’s volleyball team drops five-set battle at Saint Mary’s

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Olivet College women's volleyball team rallied from two sets down before falling to Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) foe Saint Mary's (Ind.) College tonight in five sets at the Angela Athletic Center.

• Final Score: Saint Mary's defeated Olivet 25-19, 25-20, 23-25, 24-26, 15-10
• Location: Angela Athletic Center; Notre Dame, Indiana
• Records: Olivet 3-17 overall, 1-5 MIAA; Saint Mary's 5-14 overall, 1-5 MIAA

• The Belles scored the first seven points of the opening set. The Comets fought back to close the gap to two points, 18-16, but would not get any closer.
• Olivet built a three-point lead, 9-6, in the second set. Saint Mary's answered with five straight points to go up 11-9. A double block by seniors Logan Allen and Ellie Louiselle followed by a service ace by Allen evened the score at 11-11. The teams traded points to create one more tied score at 12-12. Two points for the Belles put them ahead and they did not relinquish the lead for the rest of the set.
• Saint Mary's gained a two-point advantage, 3-1, early in the third set. A 4-1 run put the Comets ahead for the first time at 5-4. The Belles responded with two points, but Olivet came back with three straight points for an 8-6 lead. Saint Mary's used a 6-1 run for a 12-9 lead. The Belles pushed their lead to five points, 22-17. The Comets ended the set on an 8-1 run to win it by a 25-23 score. Four of the Olivet points were on kills by Louiselle.
• In the fourth set, the Comets scored the first point and eventually led by a 16-12 score. Saint Mary's had a 5-0 run to go up by a point, 17-16. A kill by Allen leveled the score before a 4-2 Belle run extended their lead to three points, 21-18. After swapping the next two points, three straight Saint Mary's attack errors tied the score at 22-22. The teams exchanged the next four kills to cause two more deadlocks at 23-23 and 24-24. A kill by Loiuselle made the score 25-24 and then a Belle attack error handed the set to Olivet and force the deciding the set.
• The Comets led 1-0 and 2-1 in the fifth set. Five straight points put Saint Mary's ahead 6-2. A kill by junior Olivia DuFore and ace by sophomore Kayin Harper closed the deficit to two points but Olivet would not draw any closer for the rest of the set.

• Louiselle led all players with 15 kills.
• Junior Morgan Dillon and freshman Violet Porter each had eight kills.
• Freshman Hannah Pratt and DuFore tallied seven and six kills, respectively.
• Senior Kennedy Blackburn collected a match-high 42 set assists.
• Five players reached double figures in digs, led by 19 apiece for senior Jill Arends and junior Emily Keeler.
• Blackurn and DuFore had 12 digs each, while Harper had 11.

• Cali Allen and Mia Shields slammed down 13 kills apiece.
• Colleen McCarthy registered 12 kills.
• Running a 6-2 system, Remington Vincent and Karla Rigan notched 25 and 20 set assists, respectively.
• McCarthy and Courtney Pelletier each recorded 19 digs.

• Olivet participates Friday and Saturday in the Mount Mary (Wis.) College Autumn Classic. On Friday, the Comets face Maranatha Baptist (Wis.) College at 4:30 p.m. ET, followed by a match against the host Blue Angels. On Saturday, Olivet plays Alma College at 1 p.m.