MORAGA, Calif. — Good things are coming in waves for Saint Mary's Volleyball at the moment, including the return to health of several key cogs. Combine that with strong play in important areas, and the Gaels are on their longest winning streak of the season. They achieved that season-long streak on Thursday night by beating the Portland Pilots in four sets for their fourth-consecutive win, with finals of 24-26, 25-22, 25-21, and 25-20. Saint Mary's is now 12-8 (6-5) while Portland drops to 5-15 (2-9).
 
BAKA IS BACK
Health has been a key factor of late for the Gaels, and Thursday night marked the first full match for Elena Baka since her return from a foot injury that sidelined her for five matches. She was an important attacker for the Gaels, finishing second on the team with 11 kills, and pacing SMC with 14 digs. Not only were her efforts on offense and defense strong, but she accounted for nearly half of the service aces that Saint Mary's put up against the Pilots, finishing with four, tying a career-best.
 
FLYIN' HAWAIIAN
Since her return from an ankle injury, Chandler Cowell has been one of the hottest hitters in the WCC. After recording 11, 11, and 13 kills in the first three wins of the winning streak, Cowell out-did herself on Thursday night, recording 16 kills to lead all Gaels, while committing just three attack errors. Her 16 kills ties a season-best that she put up against Wyoming in August, and is just one shy of her career-best that she recorded against LMU in January. During the winning streak, Cowell is averaging just shy of 13 kills per match, while adding nearly eight digs per match.
 
REMEMBER WHEN…
…Saint Mary's recorded a program-record 19 service aces against the Pilots on October 2? Saint Mary's came back down to earth with nine aces on Thursday night, led by Baka and her four. Jennifer "Boo" Laird had a pair of aces, while Cowell, Kelsey Knudsen, and Alosina Thompson each recorded one. While nine aces in the match was certainly a positive for the Gaels, they did commit 16 service aces, which is the most they've had in a match this year. Those service errors kept Portland alive in every set.
 
TURNING POINT
After dropping the first set, Saint Mary's fell behind 17-10 to Portland in the second set, and the energy level was low. SMC was able to flip the script and come roaring back, winning the next seven points to tie the match, eventually going on a 14-2 run and taking a 24-19 lead all the way to set point. Thompson was serving for the opening of the run, while Trinity Durfee kick-started it with a block and a kill. Ashley Reed then began to come alive after being inserted for the first time on the night, adding three kills and a block of her own. Reed finished the night with 10 kills, one of four Gaels with 10+ kills (Cowell, Baka, Laird, Reed).
 
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's will look to push its winning streak to five matches on Saturday afternoon as they welcome in the Gonzaga Bulldogs for a 1:00 pm contest. It marks the final home match of October for Saint Mary's, who will not be at home again until November 18.
 
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