Match #12
Saint Mary's Gaels (4-7) vs. Santa Clara Broncos (10-5, 0-2 WCC)
Tuesday, October 1, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. 
Santa Clara, Calif. — Leavey Center
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Match #13
Saint Mary's Gaels (4-7) vs. San Diego Toreros (9-4, 2-0 WCC)
Thursday, October 3, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. 
Moraga, Calif. — McKeon Pavilion
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Match #14
Saint Mary's Gaels (4-7) vs. No. 9 BYU Cougars (11-2, 2-0 WCC)
Saturday, October 5, 2019 at 1:00 p.m. 
Moraga, Calif. — McKeon Pavilion
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MORAGA, Calif. – Conference play is in full swing and the Gaels have a busy slate this week including a road match against Santa Clara followed by two home matches versus San Diego and BYU.

SCOUTING REPORT
With only one match on the schedule last week, Saint Mary's made the most of it as they took the Tigers to five sets on Friday night, but eventually fell 3-2. Highlights from the match include sophomore Breyan Ashley tying her career-high in kills (19) as well as senior Sienna Young tying her career-high in blocks (4). Sophomore Selbie Christensen also had a productive night as she tied her season-high in kills (5) and blocks (4). The Gaels, as a team, collected 13 total blocks against Pacific which was just two shy of their season-high.

Freshman Elena Baka continues to impress in her first season with the Gaels as she produced another strong performance last week in the marathon match against Pacific. Baka recorded 17 kills and 11 digs, good for her third double-double of the season, which also tied her career high in kills (September 13 vs. Cornell). Her hitting percentage on Friday was also her best of the season (.341), which led the team as well. She also collected a block-assist against the Tigers, her 14th of the year thus far.  

Senior Alexsa "Crash" Parker made it into the national and conference rankings this week as she is fourth in the WCC, 37th in the nation in aces per set (0.50). Parker is also eighth in the conference with 18 total service aces on the year. Senior Aubrey Pitts made it into the rankings as well as she is now second in the conference and 47th in the country in blocks per set (1.31).

SANTA CLARA
The Broncos have started the season at 10-5 after opening the year with a six-match winning streak. Santa Clara has spent a lot of time on the road thus far and they have recorded a neutral record of 6-0, an away record of 2-4, and a home record of 2-1. Tuesday's match against the Gaels will be their first home match since September 14. SCU also began West Coast Conference play last week with matches against Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine, but dropped both matches (3-0 and 3-1 respectively). The two teams met twice last season with Saint Mary's taking the victory in both matches (3-1 and 3-0).

SAN DIEGO (RECEIVING VOTES) 
The Toreros have had a strong start to their season as they are now 9-4 with two conference wins under their belt. San Diego is on a seven-match win streak dating back to September 14 with six of the seven being sweeps. The last four consecutive matches have been sweeps for USD including wins over WCC-opponents Portland and Gonzaga. San Diego only lost two matches in the month of September. The Toreros are now 4-1 at home and 2-2 on the road as they travel to face SMC on Thursday. Last season, SMC and USD met twice and the Gaels won both matches (3-2 and 3-0).

NO. 9 BYU
The Cougars have been on a roll this season with a record of 11-2 and they have not lost a match since September 13. BYU is currently on a five-match win streak including wins against No.18 Utah and No. 2 Stanford as well as conference sweeps of Gonzaga and Portland. They have a total of six sweeps on the season and none of their matches have gone to five sets so far. The Cougars have been on the road since September 7 and are now 5-1 at home and 5-0 on the road. BYU will face off against LMU on Tuesday before traveling to McKeon Pavilion to take on the Gaels. Last season SMC and BYU met two times with the Cougars taking both wins (3-0 and 3-1).
 
#GaelsRise –  For ticket information to all home volleyball games, call the SMC Ticket Office today at 925-631-4689.