SAN DIEGO — Opening up the West Coast Conference schedule on the road, Saint Mary's Volleyball began the second season with a match against 25^th-ranked San Diego. While the Gaels came in with some momentum following their most recent three-set sweep over UC Davis, they found themselves on the wrong end of the result this time around. SMC dropped the WCC opener in three sets with finals of 25-7, 25-21, and 25-9. The Gaels find themselves at 6-4 overall while San Diego is now 7-3.
 
BOUNCING BACK
After things went awry in the first set, the Gaels had a great response in the second set. SMC went on a 4-0 run to close an early deficit to 12-9, and continued to hang around. They pulled within one point on five occasions in the second set, the first coming after a bad set by the Toreros at 16-15, and then against after a rare dump for a kill by Ella Sandt. Kristen Erland nailed one home later in the set to make it 21-20 USD, and it appeared that the finish would come down to the wire. Unfortunately, four of the final five points went to San Diego and they closed out the win.
 
OFF THE BLOCK
A staple of the team's success thus far in 2021, the Saint Mary's block was neutralized on Thursday night. The Gaels finished with just three blocks on the evening, their lowest output of the season. Virtually all of the team's success at the net came from Jennifer "Boo" Laird and Erland, who led the team with three and two block assists respectively. Laird was also one of the best attackers on the night for SMC, leading the way with six kills and just one error. The two teams entered the night as the leaders in the WCC in blocks per set, and neither team had a strong blocking night, as USD had just five.
 
TIDBITS FROM THE WCC OPENER
It took Saint Mary's until their 6^th - 9^th points in the second set before they had consecutive points on the night…with the Gaels on defense for a majority of the night, it forced a variety of players to step up, with nine different Gaels recording at least one dig…Chandler Cowell tied a season-best with three assists, a rarity from one of the team's better attackers…defensively, it was Abigail Matoso who led the team with nine digs.
 
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's caps off their first WCC road trip of the season with a match against #11 BYU on Saturday at 12:00 pm in Provo, Utah. The Cougars will be a tough draw for the Gaels, having only lost one match so far on the season and having beaten Pacific on Thursday night. Following the match, Saint Mary's will head home and host Santa Clara on Tuesday night at 7:00 pm.
 
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