VB | Gaels Beat Gonzaga To Open WCC Play
9/23/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
MORAGA, Calif. — Plenty of offense and defense coming from multiple players carried the Saint Mary's volleyball team to a 3-1 (26-28, 25-17, 25-21, 25-21) West Coast Conference opening victory over Gonzaga at McKeon Pavilion.
The Gaels (6-6, 1-0 WCC) had four players with double-digit kills while recording 64 total digs and 10 team blocks en route to their first WCC opening win since 2013. Saint Mary's held Gonzaga (7-4, 0-1 WCC) to a .087 hitting percentage with 30 attack errors. SMC also had two players with over 20 assists and notched six service aces.
We're undefeated in the WCC and it feels good," said Saint Mary's head coach Rob Browning. "Any WCC win is a big win. Our conference is awesome. Teams are good and this team is good. They've had a good start to this season so we're really happy with it."
Sarah Chase and Lindsey Knudsen contributed heavily to both efforts with double-doubles. Knudsen led Saint Mary's with 14 kills and 14 digs. Chase had 11 kills and 13 digs. She also added four blocks and two assists. Lindsey Calvin had 13 kills on a .579 hitting percentage and added three blocks. Payton Rund, in her first match of the season, had 13 kills and hit .312 while adding two blocks.
Saint Mary's continues its four-match home stand at 1 p.m. Saturday versus Portland in both teams' second WCC match of the year. Tickets are available now for this and all home matches. Tickets can be purchased on the SMC tickets web site or by calling (925) 631-GoTx. Season tickets, group tickets and single-match tickets are all available for purchase. The match will be streamed live via GaelVision. Fans can watch the matches live on the "GaelVision" Volleyball Gameday Central page.
It was so awesome," said Rund about the win. "This is what we've been waiting for and this has been our goal all season, and it was amazing to be back."
The Gaels jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the first set and were cruising, but an 8-1 Gonzaga run fueled by four errors from Saint Mary's tied it at 11-11. The run grew into a 21-8 stretch as the Bulldogs reached set point at 24-18, but Saint Mary's wasn't done yet.
The Gaels fought off six straight set points with a 7-0 run and took a 25-24 lead themselves to grab set point. Errors came back to haunt Saint Mary's though, as a bad set, a service error and two attack errors handed Gonzaga a 28-26 first set win.
We started on fire," said Browning. "We were playing great and totally caught them off guard. And then we took a huge nose dive and played really poorly. Fortunately we found ourselves with a chance to win the first set, which didn't work out.
The thing that I think was most impressive, what I like about the team, is that we had several lineup changes due to injury and they handled that really well. It didn't faze them at all. Our team chemistry is really strong and that lends itself to dealing with things like that."
12 different players saw time Thursday for Saint Mary's. The Gaels used two different liberos between Emily Bible and Madi Wilkerson, and had to shake up the front row when Aubrey Pitts left the match with an injury.
But after hitting .024 as a team in the first set, Saint Mary's hit an impressive .462 in the second, winning 25-17. They would go on to hit .297 and .217 in the third and fourth sets, respectively, winning both by scores of 25-21.
I'm not concerned with (focusing on the win beyond tonight)," said Browning. "Our team knows how good they are. They're really excited about this win but they're not finished by any stretch. Psychologically they know what they can do and what's ahead of them."
FOLLOW ALONG
For up-to-date news, photos, videos and other features you can follow Saint Mary's College varsity athletic teams on Twitter (@SMCGaels), Instagram (@SMCGaels) and Facebook (Facebook.com/SMCGaels). You can also watch great video on-demand highlights and features as well as most Gaels sporting events live via GaelVision on SMCGaels.com.
SUPPORT THE GAELS
A gift to the Gael Athletic Fund directly benefits Saint Mary's student-athletes. This allows them the opportunity to attain an education guided by our Catholic, Lasallian and Liberal Arts traditions while participating in a competitive athletic experience. Monies raised through the Fund will assist in funding scholarships, facilities, operating budgets and academic support.
Players Mentioned
Outside Hitter
/ Women's VolleyballMiddle Blocker
/ Women's VolleyballOutside Hitter
/ Women's VolleyballOutside Hitter
/ Women's VolleyballMiddle Blocker
/ Women's VolleyballOutside Hitter
/ Women's VolleyballLibero
/ Women's VolleyballVB | Tyler Hildebrand Season Wrap Up Press Conference, 12-2-25
Tuesday, December 02
VB | Highlights at Pepperdine, 11-29-25
Saturday, November 29
VB | Highlights at LMU, 11-26-25
Wednesday, November 26
VB | Tyler Hildebrand Postgame Presser vs. Washington State 2025
Saturday, November 22
