SAN DIEGO — After playing their first matches of the season at home, Saint Mary's will head back to Southern California as they take on the 21
st-ranked Toreros of San Diego. The Toreros are one of two ranked teams in the West Coast Conference, with the other being BYU, and should be a great early-season test for Saint Mary's after seeing a quality Pepperdine squad at home this week.
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's Gaels (1-3) at San Diego Toreros (0-0)
Sunday, February 7 at 1:00 pm and Monday, February 8 at 1:00 pm
Jenny Craig Pavilion – San Diego
Watch Live (Sun.) |
Live Stats (Sun.)
Watch Live (Mon.) |
Live Stats (Mon.)
LAST TIME OUT
Saint Mary's wrapped up two matches against Pepperdine on Wednesday. The Gaels lost the opener on Tuesday in straight sets before taking the second set against Pepperdine on Wednesday, but not having enough fire power to overcome the strong attack of the Waves. Saint Mary's has played four matches so far this season, just one four teams in the WCC to say they have played a full four matches without COVID-19 interruptions thus far.
ATTACKING THE MIDDLE
Saint Mary's received a pair of strong performances from their middle blockers in Jennifer "Boo" Laird and
Trinity Durfee. Laird had her best match of the season, with nine kills, an attack percentage of 47.1%, a block and three aces (one off of her career-best). Durfee built on her career-best from Tuesday with a new-best of seven kills, and she was one of two Gaels to assist on a pair of blocks. Getting solid performances from those two, in the second set in particular, was a key reason why Saint Mary's clawed back to get a set from the Waves on Wednesday.
ABOUT SAN DIEGO
While the Gaels have already played four matches, the Toreros have yet to officially hit the court in WCC play, after COVID-19 halted the beginning of their season. They are regulars at the NCAA tournament, with 17 appearances in 21 years under current head coach Jennifer Petrie, and they begin this season ranked 22nd in the country. Four different Toreros were named to the Preseason All-WCC team: Annie Benbow, Thana Fayad, Grace Frohling, and Katie Lukes. Fayad and Lukes tied for the team lead in kills last year with 298, while Frohling returns with 264 to her credit from 2019.
#GaelsRise
