MORAGA, Calif. — For the final time during the 2022 season, Saint Mary's Volleyball met up with the Pacific Tigers, closing out their season series. The first matchup at the home of the Tigers was all Pacific, as they swept past the Gaels and prevented them from getting much going. Friday night inside University Credit Union Pavilion was much more back-and-forth, with Saint Mary's staving off elimination in third set, but ultimately dropping the match in four with finals of 23-25, 18-25, 25-21, and 17-25. Pacific picks up its 13^th win on the year while the Gaels drop to 7-12 (4-7).
 
STRONG NIGHT ALL-AROUND
One of the keys to the night for Saint Mary's was its ability to feed Kjersti Strong and let take over the Gaels attack. She was a shining star for SMC, posting a career-best in kills with 14 and in blocks with nine, easily making it her best game of the year. There wasn't a lot that she didn't do well, as she was one of the few in the middle for the Gaels who could neutralize the strong arm of Biamba Kabengele, who finished with an impressive 27 kills. Two of Strong's blocks were of the solo variety, teaming up with others for seven assists. There wasn't a set where she was particularly weak, either, racking up at least three kills in all four sets.
 
STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSESS
The Saint Mary's blocking game was on point Friday night, totaling 14 blocks compared to just five for the Tigers, making it their second-best blocking game of the season (15 against Penn on Sept. 9). Kristen Erland was also strong in the middle, with one solo stuff and four assisted blocks, part of a block that saw six different players have at least two or more blocks. The problem for the Gaels was their play at the service line, where they had 14 service errors and allowed 10 aces by Pacific. For comparison, the Gaels only had three aces and allowed just six service errors from the Tigers.
 
NEVER OUT OF IT
It really seemed like Saint Mary's had a chance to win all four sets that were played on Friday night, with the first set being about as close as you can get. The score was deadlocked at 18-18 before Pacific inched away, and the Gaels on the ropes, down 24-21. Saint Mary's then scored two points to put the pressure on the Tigers, but they closed it out on the next point. The second set was competitive early, with the Gaels trailing 12-10, but Pacific then opened it up to an eight-point lead late. After winning the third set, SMC was in front 14-12 in the fourth set, but Pacific ripped off a 6-0 run and never looked back.
 
FINAL NUMBERS
Friday marked the first time this year the Gaels have lost when having a better hitting percentage (.248 vs. .215) than their opponent…Erland and Hawley Harrer finished tied for second on the team with nine kills…Ella Sandt was the focal point from the setter position, setting a career-best with 41 assists…Megan Chandler Allred was under siege defensively all night, and racked up 10 digs to show for it.
 
QUOTABLE
"We had a good scouting report, and our blockers have just gotten really better and they put themselves in good spots. That team swings hard, so they're going to get blocked sometimes and they're okay with it because they're going to keep swinging and they're going to get some advantages in other ways. We certainly put up a good block tonight at the net, Kjersti and Kristen in particular, were just dynamite attacking." – head coach, Rob Browning
 
UP NEXT
The Gaels will enjoy the rest of the weekend off before getting back to work next week with two more home matches. Saint Mary's will host RV Pepperdine and RV Loyola Marymount on Thursday night and Saturday afternoon, respectively. The match against Pepperdine on November 3 begins with first serve at 7:00 pm. Both Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount sit just outside the top-25 in the NCAA rankings.