Belles best Britons in bittersweet victory
By KATIE MCVOY
Sports Writer
It was a bittersweet evening for the senior members of the Saint Mary's volleyball team Wednesday at Angela Athletic Facility.
The Belles beat Albion College 3-1 during the final home game of the season as seniors Agnes Bill, Mary Rodovich and Jayne Ozbolt said good-bye to their home court.
"In terms of leadership and enthusiasm, this is a group that will be missed," head coach Randa Shields said.
The Belles ended their home stand on a good note. Coming into the game with a league record of 3-2, the Belles were looking for a victory. They faced the Britons of Albion College who came into the match with a league record of 2-1.
Saint Mary's started the evening slowly, allowing Albion to take an early 4-1 lead in the first game.
"I think we started off slow," Ozbolt said. "Our communication was slow, so we weren't hitting very well."
The Belles picked up the pace later in the first game, however, and beat the Britons 15-13 on a kill by Ozbolt and Bill. Saint Mary's slowed down again during the second match, dropping it to Albion 13-15.
"The first two games we didn't play to potential," Shields said. "We needed to step it up for the next two games."
The Belles did just that. Before the third game, the Saint Mary's mascots born at the Irish pep rally last weekend made an appearance in the Angela Athletic Facility. The new mascots led the fans in cheers for the volleyball team, and raised spirits before the team took to the court yet again. The team responded well.
"Our communication really picked up after the second game," Ozbolt said. "We got into a grove and played really well."
The Belles took control of the court during the third game. Led by Suzanne Martin, who had three aces for the match, the Belles beat Albion 15-6.
"During the third and fourth game we really got back our basics," Shields said. "We served and passed very well. They were much crisper games."
The Belles won the first point during the fourth game of the evening and never looked back. They scored five points before Albion scored its only point of the game. Saint Mary's then scored 10 consecutive points to win the game 15-1. In the final minutes of the game, Shields took out all of the senior players and put in the heart of next year's Saint Mary's team.
"Taking them out was a test," Shields said. I wanted to see what it would be like next year without them."
The senior members of the Belles team could be proud of their performance tonight. Senior Agnes Bill ended her career in Angela Athletic Facility by leading the offense and defense with 24 digs and 15 kills. Helping Bill on offense were Martin, freshman Emily Nihill and Angie Meyer. Martin had an impressive 6 aces for the game and continued as the team's setter with 35 assists. Nihill joined Bill with 12 kills, and Meyer added 2 aces to the Belles' offensive attack.
The defense came on strong. Bill had 24 digs during the game.
Teammates Jolie LeBeau, Ozbolt and Nihill added to the strong defensive front. LeBeau and Ozbolt had one and three blocks, respectively, and Nihill had 22 digs to put a stop to the Albion offensive.
Although the Belles are done playing at home, they are far from done for the season. The team plays at Kalamazoo College on Friday at 7 p.m.
All Sports Stories for Thursday, October 14, 1999
