SAN FRANCISCO — All season long, Saint Mary's has played better in the second half of back-to-backs than in the first. They have proven that their ability to learn and adjust has been stronger than that of the opposition, and that was the case on Saturday afternoon. Taking on the Dons of San Francisco for the second straight day, the Gaels were able to improve from their three-set loss on Friday to the tune of a four-set win on Saturday, with scores of 18-25, 25-15, 25-19, and 25-19. With the win, the Gaels improve to 6-7 while they drop the Dons to 6-8.
 
TAKING THE SECOND
After dropping the first set of the match, it appeared that Saint Mary's might be in danger of letting the match get away from them. The Gaels responded in a big way and pulled ahead in the second set once the score hit 12-10. SMC went on a 7-1 run to open up the second set, all beginning off a service error from the Dons and then an ace from Abigail "Abby" Matoso. Elena Baka then rattled off three kills during the run, and Ella Sandt capped it off with another ace, and suddenly the Gaels were in command. Serving was strong in the set for the Gaels, who closed it out with an ace from Alosina Thompson, to tie the match at 1-1.
 
CLOSING IT OUT
The Gaels took the third set by the same margin they wound up winning the final set, and again used a middle-of-the-set run to distance themselves from the Dons. With Saint Mary's up 10-8, the Gaels scored the next four points to go up 14-8 and give themselves some much needed breathing room to prevent USF from coming back. Jennifer "Boo" Laird had another ace, Hawley Harrer added a kill to her total, and the Gaels never let the Dons closer than two points.
 
AMONG OTHER NUMBERS
Baka had her second best attacking night of the season, racking up 16 kills as the best swinger of the afternoon for SMC…Harrer got back into double-figures with 11 kills…the Gaels recorded 80 digs on the night, their best total of the year, led by a career-best 22 from Matoso and a career-best 17 from Thompson…SMC had nine aces and 11 blocks, returning to strong numbers at the line and the net as was the case during their winning streak…Trinity Durfee set a career-best with seven block assists.
 
BROWNING BITES
"These two matches versus San Francisco were a journey for us. After last night we needed to step up and make our own statement for ourselves. I'm proud of our team, always. They are an amazing group and are so capable, but we are still learning and growing and tonight we took another step forward." – head coach Rob Browning
 
SANDT SAYS
"We turned it around tonight and made the changes in our energy and play to the get the win. I am so proud of the way we took control of the match starting with our serve and pass game. We worked hard to scrap on defense and we took big swings. We had something to prove and fight for tonight and you could tell that by the fire and energy on the court. I am proud of our entire team for putting our words into actions tonight and fighting for the win." – Ella Sandt
 
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's has just two weeks left on the regular season and four matches left on the schedule, beginning with a pair of matches next week against Santa Clara. The Gaels will host the Broncos on Thursday, March 18 before going to Santa Clara on Friday night. The season wraps up the following week with a pair of home matches against a ranked BYU team.