SPOKANE, Wash. — Back on the road again but heading north this time around, Saint Mary's Volleyball began a back-to-back against the Gonzaga Bulldogs. With the tougher early-season portion of their schedule behind them, the Gaels were looking to rebound nicely and get back to some winning ways. After taking the first set, the Bulldogs battled back and found victory in four sets over SMC with finals of 25-19, 18-25, 26-28, and 21-25. Gonzaga is now 2-3 on the season while the Gaels fall to 1-6.
 
GETTING GOING EARLY
The Gaels had not won a first-set all season until Sunday afternoon, when they looked in control against Gonzaga. Saint Mary's came out of the gates strong, never trailing en route to hitting at 33.3% in the opening set, their best mark in the first stanza this season. Elena Baka was strong on the attack for the Gaels, racking up five early kills while they recorded a sideout percentage of 75%.
 
PIVOTAL BACK AND FORTH
The third set was the defining set of the entire match, as the score was locked up at 1-1. The Gaels battled back from down 20-17 to tie the set at 20-20, using a kill from Baka and a service ace from Ella Sandt. After a Gonzaga point, the Gaels got the next three points and were positioned to take the third set from the Zags with a 23-21 lead. Gonzaga forced it even and then it was a race to a two-point lead. A service error from Gonzaga gave the Gaels the first crack at set point, which was countered by the Bulldogs. The Gaels were able to force it even after Gonzaga got a few attempts at set point, but an attack error from SMC ended the third set at 28-26 and swung momentum heavily towards the Zags.
 
HERE COMES HARRER
Hawley Harrer had the best match of her Saint Mary's career on Sunday, and perhaps the best match of her collegiate career. The UCLA transfer set a new career-best in kills with 12 against Gonzaga and also tied a career-best with 13 digs. What was even more impressive about her performance was that she only had one attack error on the afternoon, for a hitting percentage of 42.3% to pace the Gaels. She was joined by Baka (13) and Chandler Cowell (10) as other Gaels to record 10+ kills in the Sunday opener.
 
BROWNING BITES
"Unfortunate result today. Gonzaga has some really big hitters and they are a solid team. Inconsistency is hurting us and we need to figure that out." – head coach Rob Browning
 
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's returns to the court tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 pm as the Gaels and Zags run it back for their second meeting in as many days. Once the series is over, the Gaels will have just over one week off before they are back inside UCU Pavilion to take on Portland at home on the 23^rd and 24^th of February.
 
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