SAN FRANCISCO – Saint Mary's continued their dominance over San Francisco on Thursday night, collecting their sixth-consecutive victory over the Dons with a 3-1 win at War Memorial Gymnasium.

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
 • SET ONE | The Dons got out to an early, 5-4 lead, but the Gaels quickly regained control of the set, scoring seven of the next nine points to take a 12-7 lead. Despite a 3-point, USF run after the first timeout, Saint Mary's dominated the rest of the set, taking a 1-0 lead with a 25-17 victory.
 
• SET TWO | Both sides traded points to begin the second period, but a 4-0 run by the Gaels gave SMC an early lead (5-2). San Francisco put together a 7-point run which helped them regain the lead, however the Gaels scored six of the following seven points and nine of 11 to regain a 15-13 advantage. The teams remained neck-and-neck with the score being tied as late as 18-18. Nonetheless, SMC responded with a 3-point run which forced the Dons to take a timeout. USF kept if close for the remainder of the set, but the Gaels ultimately went on to win 25-21.
 
• SET THREE | Seven-consecutive points went the way of the Dons to open set No. 3 and USF ultimately took an 10-3 lead. However, the Gaels took the next four points to cut the deficit to four (10-6). Saint Mary's kept it close the rest of the way, but they were unable to register the sweep as San Francisco took the third set by the score of 25-22  
 
• SET FOUR |The Gaels got out to an early lead and did not look back, building themselves as much as a 9-point, 16-7 lead. USF responded with four points of their own, but Saint Mary's pulled away in the end, taking the set 25-19 and the match 3-1.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
 
• A pair of Gaels recorded double-doubles in Saturday night's victory including a career-night for junior Sarah Chase: 15 kills (game-high), 18 digs (career-high), and 6 blocks (season-high). Senior Lindsey Knudsen collected her eighth double-double of the season against USF with 12 kills and 14 digs.
 
• Saint Mary's posted a .301 hitting percentage which is their best mark since sweeping Cal on September 15 (.347) and it is the team's fourth time this season that they have hit over .300.
 
• Senior middle blocker Lindsey Calvin looked strong in her first game back from injury, amassing seven kills, four digs, and three blocks while hitting .333 and suffering just one error.
 
• With the win, The Gaels have swept their two contests with USF this season and they have won each of their last six contests against the Dons (four sweeps).
 
QUOTABLE
 
"We are happy with our overall performance tonight," said head coach Rob Browning. "The third set we fell way behind, but the team really battled to get back in it. Sarah had an amazing match. She was all over the court, really aggressive in her attack, and she even took over as a blocker toward the end of the match. It was nice to have Calvin back on the court for us as well; she was impressive coming back from her injury. She is still getting stronger. Furthermore, Breyan had some big moments for us toward the end of the match. This was another outstanding team effort."
 
"We showed a lot of resilience against USF," said Chase. "We dug ourselves into a few holes early in the second and third sets, but we were able to respond and fight our way back. We played gritty defense which helped us flow in transition. We're looking forward to practice tomorrow to work some things out in preparation for our match against Santa Clara on Saturday. Go Gaels!"

UP NEXT
 
Saint Mary's will continue to stay local as they search for their fourth-straight win when they face Santa Clara on Saturday. First serve is set for 1:00 p.m.

#GaelsRise – For ticket information to all home volleyball matches, call the SMC Ticket Office today at 925-631-4689 or click the ticket link here to purchase your seats now.