MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's Beach Volleyball is awfully familiar with UC Davis after Thursday's match in Moraga. Thursday represented the third and final time the Gaels and Aggies will play during the 2021 season, and it also stood as Senior Day for four Gaels playing in their final home matches. It was one of the best matches of the season for SMC, sweeping past the Aggies for a 5-0 win over UC Davis, showing improvements across the board in every way from Sunday's 3-2 win at Davis. The Gaels are now 7-5 on the season.
 
The day began with one of the four seniors taking home a victory for Saint Mary's, as Sienna Young paired with Jasmin Suarez to take down Jane Seslar and Madelin Smith of UC Davis 21-12 and 21-12. That was just the beginning of good things to come for Saint Mary's, and Makenna Joyce and Selbie Christensen were also on the winning end of an exhibition with a 21-11 and 21-16 score.
 
Chandler Cowell and Elena Baka brought some energy for the Gaels as they so often do, and they were consistent in their victories, with scores of 21-16 and 21-12 over Heather Reed and Megan Luly. The clinching match for Saint Mary's came in the fives, where senior Madison Baumann paired with Karmin Brown in one of the best matches of the year. Baumann and Brown were down 20-16 in the first set, then scored the final six points to take the first set in stunning fashion. After dropping the second set (and nearly coming back), Baumann and Brown took control in the final set to win 15-7.
 
Alexsa "Crash" Parker and Hawley Harrer battled through some struggles at times against the top-pair for UC Davis, the same pair that took them down last weekend. Parker and Harrer got their revenge on their home courts, winning with scores of 21-16 and 21-17 to get Saint Mary's just one match closer to a sweep. That sweep was achieved thanks to Morgan Kendrick and Jennifer "Boo" Laird, who had to go three sets against the Aggies, but secured a 21-14, 14-21, 15-11 win and an SMC sweep. For good measure, the Gaels were also victorious in a bonus exhibition featuring Aeriel Sundt and Trinity Durfee, with scores of 21-14 and 21-11, going a perfect 7-7 on the afternoon.
 
RESULTS
(1) Alexsa "Crash" Parker/Hawley Harrer (SMC) def. Paloma Bowman/Colleen McGuire (UCD) 21-16, 21-17
(2) Chandler Cowell/Elena Baka (SMC) def. Heather Reed/Megan Luly (UCD) 21-16, 21-12
(3) Jasmin Suarez/Sienna Young (SMC) def. Jane Seslar/Madelin Smith (UCD) 21-12, 21-12
(4) Jennifer "Boo" Laird/Morgan Kendrick (SMC) def. Rose Holscher/Alexa Rockas (UCD) 21-14, 14-21, 15-11
(5) Madison Baumann/Karmin Brown (SMC) def. Alicia Letvin/Ashlee Goycoochea (UCD) 22-20, 18-21, 15-7
(6) Makenna Joyce/Selbie Christensen (SMC) def. Bailey Herdmann/Summer Bouquet (UCD) 21-11, 21-16 (exhibition)
 
Order Finish: 3, 6, 2, 5, 1, 4
 
BAUMANN BITES
"Our first set, we grinded and got the win on Karmin's amazing serves. We slowed down a little bit in the second, but took it and ran with it in the third. All of us fought really hard, even those of us that went into three sets. It was cool to see the seniors step up, because it is their day today, but it's also bittersweet because we are a team and a family and I've had so much fun over the past four years." – Madison Baumann
 
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's will be tested in their matches this weekend, where they take on ranked teams all weekend at the Stanford Invitational. First up, Saint Mary's takes on #10 Pepperdine and #7 Stanford on Saturday, April 17, beginning at 10:00 am. On Sunday, Saint Mary's will take on #11 Cal once more before playing again in the afternoon against one of those three teams, depending on the outcome of the matches over the weekend.