ADRIAN, Mich. - The start of conference play highlights a quartet of matches this week for the Adrian women's volleyball team.

The Bulldogs (3-7) are coming off a week in which they had only one scheduled contest. Now, the locals are set to visit Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) foe Saint Mary's before returning to the Merillat Center for three home games over the weekend, including the season's first tri-match.

On Tuesday, the black and gold open the MIAA portion of the season in Notre Dame, Indiana against the Belles (4-6).

Saint Mary's has dropped its last four matches entering the week, having been outscored 12 sets to three during that stretch.

Megan Collantes' 3.92 kills per set not only leads the Belles, but is also the top mark in the MIAA, just ahead of her teammate Colleen McCarthy's 3.24 average.

Tuesday's match will be the conference-opener for Saint Mary's as well.

Then, on Friday evening, Adrian plays host to Heidelberg (8-3).

The Student Princes posted a 2-1 record at their most recent outing at the Wittenberg Fall Classic in Springfield, Ohio this past weekend.

Maddie Szawranskyj paces Heidelberg in a number of categories, including total kills and total service aces. In fact, she ranks first in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) in service aces per set (0.72), and fifth in kills per set with 3.33.

Dishing out the most assists for the Student Princes is Julianna Pena. The junior ranks inside the top 10 in the OAC in both total assists (226) and assists per set (5.65).

Following Friday is the local's first tri-match of the 2021 campaign, featuring Albion and North Park.

The Britons (9-3), another MIAA opponent for Adrian, have won four in-a-row after a sloppy showing at the MIAA/NCAC Crossover in Sandusky, Ohio. All four of those wins have come by means of straight-set sweeps.

The team boasts the third-best attacking percentage in the MIAA at 0.226, punctuated by the conference's third-highest kill total (544).

Chloe Webber, Olivia Alexander and Kaylynne Nicholson each have produced over 100 kills for the Britons, with 126, 122 and 111, respectively.

Adrian and Albion start things off on Saturday at 12 p.m., then the Britons challenge the Bulldogs' eventual opponent later in the day, North Park.

The Vikings (8-2) went 3-1 this past weekend with a pair of matches in both Hiram, Ohio and Oberlin, Ohio.

Members of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, North Park actively leads the CCIW with a 0.226 attacking percentage, and a 0.127 opponents attacking percentage.

Behind the Vikings' successes on offense are Taylor Guy and Rhianna Huebner, whose 0.449 and 0.349 attacking-mark rank first and third in the conference, respectively.

As for Adrian, the Bulldogs continue to sport one of the best defenses in the MIAA behind a conference-best 18.46 digs per set.

Freshman, Mya Minjares has contributed the bulk of that mark, totaling 185 total digs.

Offensively, Katelyn Bergman and Mallory Dorow lead the 'Dogs with 76 and 74 kills, respectively.

The duo has received a majority of their assists off the hands of Hailey Farrell, who has dished out 317 dimes so far this season.

Live stats and live video will be available for all four matches this week.