SMC VOLLEYBALL: Belles look to ring in more victories
By KATIE McVOY
Associate Sports Editor
It's the halfway mark of the season and the Belles are looking to start over. After finishing the first half of the MIAA season with a 1-6 record, the Saint Mary's volleyball team is ready to turn things around and start bringing home victories.
"[A win tonight] is incredibly important," head coach Julie Schroeder-Biek said. "It could really set the pace, raise the confidence and the thing is I know [the team] can do it."
Tonight the 2-11 Belles will take on the Britons of Albion (3-4 MIAA, 12-7 overall) on the road for the second time this season. Albion was Saint Mary's first MIAA match-up of the season in early September and the inexperienced Belles team fell to the Britons 3-1 in four very close games. Now, with half a season of experience, Saint Mary's is looking to turn things around.
"We played [Albion] so early we hadn't really had a good sense of our offense yet," Schroeder-Biek said.
The Belles have settled into a consistent 6-2 offense since those early season games. However, with the recent season-ending injury of leading player Angie Meyers, they have still had to make adjustments.
Freshman Alison Shevik moved to the strong side, leaving her position on the right side to Andrea Bella. The Belles have played three games with this new configuration and seem to be adjusting.
"The freshmen are coming in and doing their best to fill Angie's role," senior Jaime Dineen said. "It's difficult."
"We've worked through [the new configuration] at practice and it seems to be coming more natural for them," Schroeder-Biek said.
Early in the season, the Belles fell behind quickly in the game and had difficulties recovering. Ineffective communication was key in the early losses and is something Saint Mary's will be focusing on in tonight's contest.
"We have to come out and play strong at the beginning," Dineen said. "The more we talk, the better we do."
During Saturday's victory over Rochester, Saint Mary's played a quick offense that gave the team early leads in all three games. With an MIAA win on the line, that early lead will be important and the Belles are looking for ways to keep that offense running.
"We did a lot of serve receives [in practice] so we have good passes," Dineen said. "If they serve we want to have a good pass to the setter so we can have a quick offense."
Albion is currently on a season-long four-game winning streak. However, coming off of a win themselves on Saturday, the Belles are confident in their ability to play, even though they will face the Britons on the road.
"[Travelling] doesn't really have a big impact on them," Schroeder-Biek said." [A win] always feels good."
Action gets underway tonight at 7 p.m. at Kresge Gym at Alma.
All Sports Stories for Wednesday, October 3, 2001
