MORAGA, Calif. – Saint Mary's fought hard on Thursday night against No. 1 BYU in a thrilling four set contest, but ultimately fell 3-1. Lindsey Knudsen and Alexsa "Crash" Parker both had big nights that contributed to the effort on Thursday night.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• SET ONE | Saint Mary's and BYU went point-for-point in the first portion of the set on Thursday night. Neither team was ever up by more than four points, and the two teams spent a majority of the period tied. The set was down to the wire, but the Cougars pulled it out in the final points and won 25-23.

• SET TWO | Both sides remained close through the beginning of the second set. The Gaels took advantage of a 4-point lead over BYU just after the halfway mark and maintained it for most of the set until BYU tied it 23-23 with an 6-1 run. The Cougars then took the final two points of the set and won 25-23.

• SET THREE | The Gaels and the Cougars were neck-and-neck as the teams went into the third set. Saint Mary's went ahead halfway through and held a one to two point lead for the next couple of points. BYU took the lead 17-16 just before the first timeout and the two teams continued to trade points following the break. The Cougars fought off match point when it was 24-23 to tie things up at 24 points apiece. Then, the Gaels responded with two consecutive points to win the marathon, 26-24.

• SET FOUR | BYU came out strong in the fourth period and took an 8-0 lead to begin the set. The Cougars held the lead for most of the fourth, but the Gaels worked steadily to cut into the deficit. However, Saint Mary's was unable to stifle BYU's momentum and the Cougars went on to win the set 25-16 and take the match three sets to one.

QUOTABLE
"We played well against a great team: we really outplayed them for three sets, but couldn't convert at the end of sets one and three to get the win," said head coach Rob Browning. "Our defense was great; BYU is a really impressive offensive team and at the end we held them to a .195 hitting percentage which is much below their average. The message is: we will get back to work tomorrow and prepare to play another good team."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Parker broke the program record for career service aces (129) during the third set, surpassing her coach, Mandy Bible. 
• Knudsen collected her 1,000th career-dig on Thursday during the second set, and recorded a double-double for the game (11 kills, 14 digs).
• Saint Mary's and San Diego are the only WCC teams to have won a set against BYU this season.
• Saint Mary's held BYU to a .195 hitting percentage, their lowest since November 2 against USD.
• Sarah Chase collected a season-high, 16 kills as well as 13 digs to record a double-double for the night.

UP NEXT
Saint Mary's continues their homestand on Saturday with a match against San Diego at 1 p.m. Seniors Emily Bible, Lindsey Calvin, Sarah Chase and Lindsey Knudsen will be recognized before the start of the game.

#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.