Game #5
No. 18 Saint Mary's Gaels (1-3) at San Francisco (2-2)
Saturday, March, 2019 at 10:00 a.m.
Brisbane, Calif.

MORAGA, Calif. – The Gaels return to the Bay area to take on San Francisco for their fifth match of the season on Saturday.

SCOUTING REPORT
Saint Mary's began their season on the beaches of Hawaii with four matches against top-15 ranked teams. While the Gaels dropped their first three matches, they went on to sweep No. 11 Stanford in five sets. SMC is currently ranked 20th in the nation according to AVCA Coaches and 18th in the nation by DiG Magazine.

Freshmen Chandler Cowell and Selbie Christensen showed early promise during their opening match against Hawaii as they snagged a 3-set victory in the fifth position. Seniors Lindsey Knudsen and Sarah Chase took No. 1 UCLA to the limit in their next match, forcing the Bruins into a third set and narrowly losing 15-13. Seniors Emily Bible and Lindsey Calvin also went three sets in the No. 2 spot after winning the second set. The following day, a pair of teams went to a third set with No. 4 Pepperdine before SMC swept No. 11-ranked Stanford. In that match, Chase and Knudsen defeated the Cardinal in straight sets and every other pair went the distance, winning in three sets.

Three Gaels were placed on the All-WCC Preseason team prior to the beach classic: Chase, L. Knudsen, and Emily Bible. Last season, Bible finished with a 16-12 record, was 5-1 while competing in the No. 1 position and 11-11 at No. 2. Meanwhile, Chase was 13-15 overall and played all of her matches on the third court. Finally, Knudsen finished the 2018 season also with a 16-12 mark, posting the same numbers as Bible (5-1 at No. 1 and 11-11 at No. 2). All three were on the All-WCC team last year including two receiving First Team honors (Chase and Knudsen)..

SAN FRANCISCO
The Dons opened their season with a 2-2 record, but have yet to play a ranked team this year. USF will have two matches on Friday prior to their meeting with Saint Mary's in which they will play College of San Mateo and College of Marin.

USF began their season with a 1-4 loss against San Jose State, but went on the sweep Feather River College 5-0 in their second match of the year later that day. On the second day of competition, San Francisco then narrowly beat out Santa Clara 3-2, before being swept by Cal 5-0.

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