NOTRE DAME, Indiana - Inside the Angela Athletic and Wellness Complex, the Adrian women's volleyball utilized a furious rally in the deciding fourth set to claim its first conference-opening victory since 2018.

The Bulldogs' offense suffocated the homestanding Belles with a 0.321 attacking-percentage, the best-mark Adrian has produced so far this season. Furthermore, the locals struck for 60 kills, a season-high over four-set matches.

The black and gold set the tone early, opening a 4-0 lead in the first set. Despite Saint Mary's orchestrating a quick response to knot the score at 10-10, the 'Dogs pounced right back with an 8-2 run, featuring three kills by sophomore, Ayden Cribbs. The outside-hitter would finish the night with a game, and career-high 23 kills for Adrian.

After the visitors claimed the first set 25-20, it was the hosts that put on a strong showing to conquer the second set, 25-19.

The final two sets, however, were all Adrian.

In the third frame, the Bulldogs trailed by as many three points in the early stages before setting up a 6-0 stretch to build a cushion of their own. 19 of the Bulldogs' final 25 points in the third set would come by means of kills, including five from Cribbs, and three each from Destiny Johnson and Katelyn Bergman.

The local's punishing attack rolled over into the final set. After a Belles' kill cut the black and gold's lead down to 8-7, the Bulldogs turned on the heat.

Three consecutive kills from Cribbs ignited what would turn into a 10-0 run by Adrian en route to a 25-12 final line.

Over the final two frames, the visitors sported an attacking-percentage of 0.433 en route to the season-high mentioned previously.

While Cribbs worked on her personal-best, Mallory Dorow and Bergman contributed 13 and 11 kills, respectively.

Hailey Farrell tied a season-high with 50 assists, while Mya Minjares paced Adrian defensively with 25 digs.

The Bulldogs are set to return to the Merillat Sport and Fitness Center this Friday evening to host Heidelberg at 6:30 p.m.