LOS ANGELES — The 2021 Spring Volleyball season is finally here for Saint Mary's, and not a minute too soon. After not having played since November 26, 2019, the Gaels will have their first contest in over a year as they take on LMU in Los Angeles on Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon, beginning a spring schedule that features only WCC games.
 
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's Gaels at LMU Lions
Tuesday, January 26 at 6:00 pm and Wednesday, January 27 at 3:00 pm
Gersten Pavilion – Los Angeles
Watch Live (Tues.) | Live Stats (Tues.)
Watch Live (Wed.) | Live Stats (Wed.)
 
IT'S FINALLY BACK!
The gap from November 26, 2019 to January 26, 2021 (428 days) is the longest break between matches in program history. If anything can be taken away from how Saint Mary's finished its most recent season, the Gaels did win their final two matches of the 2019 fall season. This year shapes up differently than year's past, where Saint Mary's will only play WCC matches with zero non-conference matches on the schedule. Only Pacific is currently off the schedule as the two sides look to find dates to play after Pacific had to delay the start of their season due to COVID-19.
 
BAKA BACK
After initial questions about whether she would be playing this spring season, Elena Baka is back and ready to take on a bigger role with this year's team. The sophomore out of Greece was chosen to train with Greece's beach team in advance of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and she was thus not anticipated to play with the Gaels this year. COVID-19 put everything on hold, and Baka is back in a Gaels uniform. She was chosen as a preseason All-WCC member after finishing last year second on the Gaels in kills.
 
ABOUT LMU
The Lions are a good test to open up the season for Saint Mary's after finishing the 2019 fall season with a record of 15-15, and an even 9-9 in the WCC. One thing the Lions will have to figure out this season is how to replace the loss of their leaders in kills, assists, and digs from last fall, as all three players graduated. Rose Booth was great as a true freshman, finishing second on the team in kills, and should play a big role on this year's squad. Both Booth and Emme Walters were selected as preseason All-WCC selections.