STOCKTON, Calif. – Saint Mary's women's volleyball captured their 10th victory in 11 matches in thrilling fashion, taking down University of the Pacific 3-2 in comeback fashion.

HOW IT HAPPENED

 • SET ONE | The Gaels and Tigers traded points throughout the match's first eight points, but SMC eventually pulled away with a 5-0 run, giving themselves an 11-5 lead. Pacific looked to come back with a late, 3-0 run and they eventually cut their deficit to two points (21-19). However, Saint Mary's shut them down with a 4-0 run to end the set with a 25-19 victory.  
 
• SET TWO | The Tigers took the first five points of the set, but the Gaels climbed their way back into it, making it 9-6. A 5-point run made it 14-6 Pacific, but SMC fought back to only trail by five points (17-12). The Gaels' comeback attempt was cut short however, as Pacific went on to take the set 25-16, evening the match at one set each.
 
• SET THREE | The third set nearly consisted of just traded points until SMC went on a 4-0 run (their biggest since the first) to take a 9-7 lead. The Tigers came back to tie it at 11-11 and again at 12-12. This pattern continued until the Gaels built themselves another 2-point lead (15-13). SMC remained in the lead until they led 24-21. Then, the Tigers refused to go down easily, fighting off three set-points with a 3-0 run to tie the game at 24 points each. The Gaels then took the lead twice more, but Pacific tied it up each time. Then, the Tigers took the next two points to take set two 28-26.
 
• SET FOUR | As if to make a point, Saint Mary's got off to a strong start in set No. 4, going on a 4-0 run to begin the period. The Gaels continued to dominate the set adding in another 4-0 run to make it a 12-6 SMC lead. Saint Mary's pushed their lead to 12 (20-8) and held on for the eventual, 25-14 win.
 
• SET FIVE | Fittingly, the fifth and decisive set saw the points seesaw back-and-forth once again. The Tigers' biggest lead early on was 6-4 after the Gaels had a 3-1 lead beforehand. Nonetheless, SMC came right back with two-consecutive points to tie the match at six points apiece. After Pacific scored twice more, the Gaels went on a 6-0 run to gain a 4-point, 12-8 advantage. The streak was highlighted by a pair of service aces from junior Sarah Chase. Saint Mary's dominated the remainder of the period, winning the match with a 15-10 fifth-set victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
 
• Saint Mary's saw three players collect double-doubles on Friday night including: Sienna Young (10 kills, 13 digs), Sarah Chase (10 kills, 12 digs), and Alexsa "Crash" Parker (14 assists, 10 digs).
 
• The Gaels' big set four win was made possible by SMC forcing Pacific to hit -.132.
 
• SMC has now played in five, 5-set matches in 2018 and they are a perfect, 5-0. In fact, the Gaels have now won seven-consecutive such matches dating back to 2017.
 
QUOTABLE
 
"This team continues to show its mettle when the match is on the line," said head coach Rob Browning. "Nothing was easy tonight. Pacific was scrappy and they've got some big arms that caused problems for us. However, we hung in there and stayed together and stuck with what we do well."
 
"It was a really good match," said "Crash" Parker. "We had a few lulls in the second and third sets but we stepped up to the challenge and took them head on. Sarah and Brey served them off the court at the end of the match, Alo kept us in system and put up great sets for our hitters to get kills, and everyone kept up the energy and fire to keep us alive. It was so much fun and I'm so proud to be a part of this team!"

UP NEXT
 
Now 11-3 overall and 3-1 in conference-play, the Gaels' next two matches will be on the road at Loyola Marymount (October 4) and Pepperdine (October 6).

#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.