BRISBANE, Calif. – Fresh off of receiving a No, 18 ranking by Dig Magazine, the Gaels exerted their dominance on Saturday, defeating San Francisco by the score of 4-1.  
 
Three of the four wins for the Gaels were taken in straight sets as the No. 2, 3, and 5 pairs never allowed the Dons to take a set. Freshmen Chandler Cowell and Selbie Christensen registered their team-high, third victory of the season and are now 3-2 on the year.
 
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I thought we came out loose, but focused and took care of business," said senior Lindsey Calvin. "Emily and I always talk about playing with joy and gratitude and I think that showed today."
 
We really like how we were able to pick a strategy and stay strong with it throughout the whole match," said junior Sienna Young. "USF has a good team: they challenged us at times, but we stuck to our game plan and pushed through."
 
"Unlike the warmth and sunshine of Hawaii, today we played in the rain and cold," said assistant Gary Hodge. "Our pairs were up to the challenge, however, bringing heat from the service line, led by Crash and Sienna who notched six aces as a team. We also brought some heat at the net. Sarah Chase led that effort, racking up 29 kills in a close-fought battle with Carly Lowry and Anna Della Vecchia in the 1s pairing. Overall, we continue to develop our offensive and defensive systems as our pairs solidify. After two weeks and five duals, we feel confident that we're going in the right direction, but will stay ever-hungry for more and more improvement. We were very impressed with USFs improvement under first year head beach coach Shane Tye."
 
Results
 
#18 Saint Mary's 4, San Francisco 1
1. Lindsey Knudsen/Sarah Chase def. Carly Lowry/Anna Dalla Vecchia (16-21, 21-18, 15-11)
2.  Lindsey Calvin/Emily Bible def. Camille Araujo/Victoria Rogers (21-14, 21-10)
3. Alexsa "Crash" Parker/Sienna Young def. Emily Zinger/Madelyn LaFollette (21-14, 21-13)
4.  Moana To'oto'o/Ella Reames def. Jennifer "Boo" Laird/Morgan Kendrick (21-17, 15-21, 16-14)
5.  Chandler Cowell/Selbie Christensen def. Olena Bondar/Tanner Pemberton (21-17, 21-14)
Order of finish: (5,4,3,2,1)