Oct. 22, 2002

Box Score

Moraga, CA - The Saint Mary's Gaels fell to California, 3-2 on Tuesday night. Individual game scores were 30-27, 22-30, 36-34, 28-30, and 13-15. With the loss the Gaels fell to 5-12/2-3 WCC and Cal improved to 14-5/4-3 Pac-10.

Saint Mary's set the tone in the first game, letting Cal know that the Gaels would not be backing down. The game was close the entire way, as the score was tied at 20, with just one-third of the game remaining. Saint Mary's then capitalized on two straight Cal errors and continued on a 10-6 run to win game one by a margin of three points.

Game two began with an upset California team going on a scoring tear. Cal outscored Saint Mary's 20-8 through the game's first 18 points. While Saint Mary's was able to manage a few rallies, in the end, the deficit was too large to overcome, as Cal took game two by eight points.

The determination and poise of the Gaels' players was evident in the third game as they absolutely refused to lose. The two teams battled back and forth, with the lead changing hands eight times throughout the game. However, Saint Mary's was able to grab hold of the final lead, courtesy of an enormous kill by Lindsey Bogason to tie it at 33 and an attack error by Leah Young, which resulted in a 34-33 Gael lead.

Much like the three before it and the one to follow, game four was close down to the wire. The Gaels looked as if they were in the driver's seat, after Stacey O'Connor made a huge kill to give the Gaels a 25-19 lead. However, the Bears clawed their way back into the game and took possession of a 29-28 lead. The game ended on a kill by Cal's Camille Leffall.

Saint Mary's left it all on the floor in game five, taking the game down to the wire once again. The game involved a number of huge momentum swings. It looked as if Cal was going to run-away with the match after they took a 10-7 lead on a Gael service error, but the Gaels refused to go quietly. Saint Mary's fought its way back into the game taking a one-point lead at 12-11. Cal then forced a Gael time out, taking a one-point 13-12 lead. After the time out, Lindsey Bogason tied the game with her 16th and final kill of the night. In the end, Cal took the final game by two points.

Leading the way for the Gaels were Brook Lowry and Rachel Avilla. Lowry set a new career-high of 65 assists in the match and also added 17 digs. Avilla posted an astounding 27 kills, while also posting 17 digs in the match. Lindsey Bogason and Jill Parmele posted 16 kills a piece in the match, with Bogason adding 12 digs. Stacey O'Connor, who is currently the nation's fourth best blocker, finished the match with 10 kills and nine blocks. Kaui Salzman had a match-high 20 digs.

Cal was led by Leah Young, who posted a match-high 28 kills, hitting .358 and posting 11 digs. Young also had nine blocks in the match. Jenna Brown chipped in for the Bears with 15 kills and 16 digs. As a team, the Bears recorded 40 total blocks.

The Gaels will return to action against Pepperdine on Friday, October 25 at 7:05 p.m. The match will be played in Firestone Fieldhouse.