Match #25
Saint Mary's Gaels (9-15, WCC 5-9) vs. Pepperdine Waves (13-10, WCC 9-3)
Thursday, November 14, 2019 at 7:00 p.m.
Malibu, Calif. — Firestone Fieldhouse
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Match #26
Saint Mary's Gaels (9-15, WCC 5-9) vs. Loyola Marymount Lions  (13-12, WCC 7-6)
Saturday, November 16, 2019 at 1:00 p.m. 
Los Angeles — Gersten Pavilion
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MORAGA, Calif. – Saint Mary's volleyball hits the road this week as they look to face off against SoCal rivals Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount.

SCOUTING REPORT
The Gaels split their matches last week as they swept Portland on Thursday before falling in five sets to the Gonzaga Bulldogs on Saturday. SMC heads into their roadtrip with a record of 9-15 on the season and they are 5-9 in conference competition. The sweep of the Pilots was they Gaels first win since October 26th when Saint Mary's swept San Francisco at home. SMC has an away record of 2-6 this season as they took road-wins against Gonzaga and Portland in early October. The Gaels are currently tied with Pacific for seventh place in the West Coast Conference while neither team is far behind fifth place Santa Clara (6-7).

Saint Mary's continues to impress at the net this season as the team is ranked third in the conference and 53rd in the nation in blocks per set (2.44) which is just behind BYU (2.62) and Santa Clara (2.64). Senior Aubrey Pitts has been defensively strong this season as she is ranked second in the conference and 26th in the nation and 24th in the nation in blocks per set (1.34). Alexsa "Crash" Parker also remains in the rankings this week as she is ranked first in the WCC and 20th in the nation in aces per set (0.49) as well as second in the conference and 30th in the nation in total service aces (36). 

In the last three contests, the Gaels as a team have recorded a combined 39 total blocks, including two matches in a row where they collected 13.5, just 1.5 blocks shy of their season high which SMC recorded on September 13 against Cornell. While Pitts leads the team with a total of 90 blocks on the year, senior Alex O'Sullivan is close behind with 70 of her own. Pitts recorded her season-high eight blocks against San Diego on November 2 when the Gaels fell in four sets to the Toreros.

PEPPERDINE
The Pepperdine Waves have a record of 13-10 on the season and are 9-3 in conference competition. The Waves have won four of their last five matches including sweeps of San Diego, Portland and LMU. The 3-0 victory over San Diego was a big win for the Waves because they handed the Toreros their first conference loss of the season. Pepperdine is now ranked third in the West Coast conference behind USD and BYU who are both 13-1. When the Gaels and the Waves met earlier this season, it was Saint Mary's who took the win after downing Pepperdine in four sets. They only lost three contests in the month of October against San Diego, Saint Mary's and BYU. Prior to the win this season, SMC had lost the previous five matches dating back to the 2016 season.

LOYOLA MARYMOUNT
The Loyola Marymount Lions are 13-12 with a conference record of 7-6. The Lions have lost four of their last five matches, including two in a row to Gonzaga and Pepperdine. LMU is ranked fourth in the conference behind Pepperdine, San Diego and BYU while they are just ahead of Santa Clara. Loyola Marymount has a home record of 4-3 this season and will face off against Pacific on Thursday prior to their match against Saint Mary's. When the Gaels and the Lions met in mid-October, it was a dramatic five set match that eventually ended in a victory for Loyola Marymount, despite a late surge from Saint Mary's. SMC has lost three matches in a row to the Lions including two in 2018, but the Gaels won in four sets against LMU during the 2017 season.

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