Volleyball Recap

2011 Season in Review

The Saint Mary's volleyball team continued to improve throughout the season while taking on some strong competition in and out of conference play in 2011.

The Belles started the year off at a tough tournament at Mount Union in Ohio. The team won a dramatic 3-2 match against Allegheny at that tournament that would show just how balanced the contributors would be throughout the year. In that win, Stephanie Bodien and Kati Schneider combined for 38 kills while Meghann Rose added a career-high 33 digs and Christi Wyble tallied seven blocks.

In their first home game of the season, the team hosted defending national champion and #1 ranked Calvin. The Belles had the Knights on the ropes in the second set, but top-ranked Calvin proved to be deserving of their national ranking in the 3-0 sweep.

After picking up conference wins against Olivet and Trine on the road, the Belles returned home in late September to rattle off three consecutive straight-set wins over Adrian, Manchester, and Albion. Two weeks later, the team completed the regular season sweep of Olivet at home with a straight-set win on their Dig for the Cure night. The Belles were then able to close out the season by completing the season sweep of Albion on the road in the final match of the year.

In 2011, the Belles increased their total kills (916), attack percentage (.146), kills per set (10.2), assists (832), aces (132), and digs (1414) from the 2010 season. Freshman Kati Schneider led the team with 236 kills on the year, becoming the first freshman since 2003 to lead the Belles in kills. Junior Stephanie Bodien was not far behind as she tallied 230 kills on the season. The pair each had four double-doubles in kills and digs on the season for the Belles.

For veteran players Danie Brink and Meghann Rose, 2011 was a chance for the duo to etch their names in the school record book. Brink moved into third place all-time in career assists after a 688 assist showing this fall to give the setter 2358 helpers in her career. Rose also moved into third place all-time in career digs with 1614 over the past four years, including a team-best 384 digs this fall.

Middle hitters Allison Zandarski and Christi Wyble were also big contributors in 2011. Zandarski was second in total blocks (50) and third in kills (188) on the team. She and the outside pair of Schneider and Bodien combined to lead the team in kills in 24 of the team's 25 matches. Wyble once again was a blocking presence for the Belles in the middle. The sophomore led the team in blocks for the second straight year as she matched last year’s total output of 71 blocks again in 2011.

At the conclusion of the season, Meghann Rose was named to the All-MIAA Second Team as voted upon by league coaches. In just conference play, she ended the 2011 campaign tied for seventh in service aces average with 0.40 per set while finishing fifth in total aces (22). She also was third in conference standings in digs per set average with 4.02 d/s. Rose finished with 331 digs in conference play, which was also third-best in the MIAA. She became the ninth player in program history to earn postseason All-MIAA honors.