SMC Volleyball: Belles defeat Chicago, lose to Edgewood
By: KATIE McVOY
Associate Sports Editor
The simple fact is that the Belles are young.
They began their season 1-4 and showed their youth last Tuesday in a disappointing loss to Kalamazoo. But this weekend, they took the initiative to learn from their mistakes and they brought home a win.
"After Tuesday we had a really bad match and we just wanted to turn things around," junior Alison Shevik said. "We're a young team and we're figuring out what we need to do to win."
On Saturday, what they needed to do was communicate. In a 3-2 (30-25, 23-30, 30-28, 26-30, 15-11) win against Division I foe Chicago, the Belles talked themselves past their mistakes to victory.
"Communication was our big key," Shevik said. "Everyone was really positive and they didn't let mistakes get them down."
Following the win against Chicago, Saint Mary's fell to Edgewood College in a closely fought 1-3 loss (21-30, 23-30, 33-31, 25-30).
Edgewood, whose offense didn't look as solid as Saint Mary's, managed to capitalize on some Belles' mistakes. If its skills weren't as solid, its will to win was.
"They were really, really scrappy," Shevik said. "They didn't have as good an offense as we did but they dug for everything. It was annoying more than anything."
Shevik led the Belles defensive effort with 46 digs. She and freshman Talia Matury-Vacaro led Saint Mary's with 18 and 19 digs, respectively. Sophomore Bridget Wakaruk turned in another stellar performance with 76 assists on the weekend.
Saint Mary's will have one day of practice before facing off at Adrian Tuesday. The Bulldogs finished last season just three places above the Belles, but are off to a solid start this season with a 7-2 record.
Before the match gets under way at 7 p.m., Saint Mary's is looking to get a little work done on fundamentals.
"We're smarter than the other teams we play, but we're young and we need to work on fundamentals and basics," Shevik said.
All Sports Stories for Monday, September 9, 2002
