MORAGA, Calif. — On Friday afternoon, Saint Mary's hit the sand courts on campus for their first beach dual of the 2021 spring, taking on Oregon. Past matchups against the Ducks have been kind to Saint Mary's, with the Gaels having never lost to Oregon in three prior tries. That streak continued on Friday as Saint Mary's won all five matches and an exhibition to sweep Oregon 5-0 to begin their year, giving Oregon its second loss on the season.
 
The Gaels ran their winning streak to five matches in a row overall dating back to 2020 with a convincing win over Oregon. Elena Baka and Chandler Cowell were up first for the Gaels and they were able to power their way past the fourth pair of Oregon with wins of 21-18 and 21-13. Cowell begins her year 1-0 after being named to the Preseason All-WCC team. On court one, Jasmin Suarez and Sienna Young, a pair of beach-only players, had no problem winning the pair two dual 21-12 and 21-11, and at that point, SMC was on its way to a sweep.
 
Aeriel Sundt and freshman Trinity Durfee teamed up for the first time in the fifth pair and were able to wrap up the win with the clinching decision, taking down Abby Plevin and Alaina Thomas of Oregon 21-13 and 21-18. Shortly after, Jennifer "Boo" Laird and Morgan Kendrick joined forces to win the third pair dual 21-14 and 21-18.
 
The Gaels coaching staff was eager to see their first pair hit the sand, and they did so in grand style. Alexsa "Crash" Parker and Hawley Harrer played together in competition for the first time and looked great, defeating Savannah Siegrist and Carly Wallace 21-12 and 21-11. In an exhibition that followed, the Gaels paired up Madison Baumann and Karmin Brown and they were victorious with finals of 21-11 and 21-13.
 
"Today was a strong win to start the season over a Pac-12 opponent," head coach Gary Hodge said following the win. "We executed the way we needed to in order to win. The indoor players who have been going through the grind and had a back-to-back this week gave it everything they had, and the beach players had been chomping at the bit since our season was canceled last year. They made the most of it."
 
OVERALL RESULTS
(4) Baka/Cowell (SMC) def. Wetton/Rotshtein (ORE) 21-18, 21-13
(2) Suarez/Young (SMC) def. LaFollette/Donovan (ORE) 21-12, 21-11
(5) Sundt/Durfee (SMC) def. Plevin/Thomas (ORE) 21-13, 21-18
(3) Laird/Kendrick (SMC) def. Hopen/Cole (ORE) 21-14, 21-18
(1) Parker/Harrer (SMC) def. Siegrist/Wallace (ORE) 21-12, 21-11
(6) Baumann/Brown (SMC) def. Lopez/Donovan (ORE) 21-11, 21-13 (exhibition)
 
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's is back at it again tomorrow as the Gaels host the USF Dons at 9:00 am on campus. The Gaels will then have beach matches scheduled next weekend when they hit the road for the first time, with Stanford being the marquee match of the weekend.
 
#GaelsRise