MORAGA, Calif. — Thursday night was a strong showing of just how well the Saint Mary's Volleyball team has been playing as of late. Despite an up-and-down beginning against the Santa Clara Broncos, Saint Mary's used an improved attack, continued stonewalling at the net, and some stellar defensive efforts to down the Broncos in four sets. With scores of 26-24, 14-25, 25-17, and 25-21, Saint Mary's improves its mark to 7-7 while dropping Santa Clara to 3-6.
 
DYNAMIC DUO
The two best outside hitters the Gaels have had all season were on display in full-force Thursday night, as Elena Baka and Chandler Cowell stole the show with their performances. Both attacked at over 27%, and they were nearly identical in kills: Baka put up 17 to tie her season-best, and Cowell ended up with 16, one shy of a career-best. Cowell helped rally the Gaels back in the first set after they trailed 20-15, scoring three-straight kills to make it 20-18, and then added an ace a few points later to make it 22-21 with the Broncos in front. Baka was the one responsible for ending the third set with a kill, and added a few impressive swings at the end of the fourth set to put the nail in the coffin.
 
SWING SET
The third set is where the Gaels got momentum back on their side and never relinquished it. After dropping the second set in disappointing fashion, Saint Mary's opened the third set on a 6-0 run, highlighted by a pair of blocks from Trinity Durfee and Jennifer "Boo" Laird to open it up, and then another stuff from Laird, solo style. Saint Mary's never came close to giving up the lead, attacking at an impressive 46.4% in the set, while limiting the Broncos to an attack percentage of just 5.9%. It was there that Saint Mary' showed their versatility: four blocks, five players with at least two digs, and three players with at least three kills.
 
HANGING ON
The Gaels appeared poised to take set four in relatively easy fashion until the Broncos came roaring back to life with a 5-0 run that tied it up at 17-17. The answer from SMC was strong, with Chandler and Baka leading on the attack to go up 20-17. A few scares from the Broncos had the Gaels on the ropes, but with strong defense and digging from Makenna Joyce, including a service ace of her own that put the Gaels up 22-19, Saint Mary's had enough. Ella Sandt closed it off with an ace and the Gaels took the final set 25-21 to get back to the .500-mark for the first time since their second match of the year.
 
BROWNING BITES
"I love how our team fought through this match. It was so back-and-forth at times. We finally settled into a better rhythm after the second set. Hawley Harrer and Selbie Christensen have been so consistent for us, but tonight it was Elena and Chandler who carried the offensive load. Boo and Trinity did a nice job coordinating our block. Tomorrow will be another battle and we will be ready." – head coach, Rob Browning

THOMPSON TALKS
"We talked as a team after the match and all agreed that even though there were a couple of things that could have been executed better, we were proud of each other for the way that we fought through chaotic moments. I think being scrappy and having people hit good serves towards the end gave us the momentum to finish strong." - Alosina Thompson
 
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's and Santa Clara will go back at it again on Friday night inside the Leavey Center, the home court for the Broncos. First serve is scheduled for 6:00 pm as it was on Thursday, and then that leaves just two matches left on the schedule for the Gaels: a pair of home matches against a ranked-BYU squad on the 26^th and 27^th of March.