SAN DIEGO — Saint Mary's Volleyball kicked off the final road trip of the 2022 season by taking on the second-ranked team in the country in San Diego. The Toreros have been hot all season, especially in WCC play, where they've only lost three sets. Despite Saint Mary's nearly taking a set from one of the best teams in the country, they could not get past San Diego, dropping the match in three sets with scores of 25-12, 25-19, and 25-15. Saint Mary's is now 7-15 (4-10) on the year while the Toreros improve to 23-1 (14-0).
 
CARRYING THE LOAD
The one constant for the Gaels all night long was the steady play of Genevieve Bane, who continues to improve in her first season of actual competition. The redshirt freshman led the way with a team-best 12 kills on Thursday night, including four kills in all three sets. To put her night into context, no other Gaels finished with more than three kills across three sets. She also led the team in hitting percentage on a night when the Gaels offense was not as sharp as it has been in recent matches. The development of Bane is a great sign for the Gaels going into next season.
 
NEARLY HAD 'EM
The second set was the best chance for Saint Mary's to take one away from the Toreros, as the Gaels hung right there with USD until the final points. The Gaels actually held a 10-9 lead early in the set, but the Toreros came back with a 5-0 run to lead 14-10, at the time, their biggest of the set. It was still a four-point deficit at 20-16 when Ashley Reed got a kill, and suddenly, after two more points, it was a 20-19 score. The Toreros were then able to flex their muscles and show the Gaels why they are ranked No. 2 in the country, scoring the final five points of the match to take it away from SMC.
 
AMONG OTHER NUMBERS
One of the big factors in the game was the play at the net, where the Gaels were out-blocked 10-3…the Gaels did do a good job of locking down the WCC's leader in blocks per set, as Leyla Blackwell had just three blocks…for the first time this season, Hailee Garcia led the Gaels in digs as she tied a career-best with 11…SMC held USD to just four aces, but the Gaels only had two of their own in the match (Bane and Megan Chandler Allred).
 
UP NEXT
The final road game of the 2022 season takes place on Saturday afternoon in Provo, Utah as the Gaels take on No. 18 BYU at 12:00 pm PT. This game is significant in that it marks the final time these two West Coast Conference rivals will meet in WCC play, with BYU set to leave the WCC for the Big-12 next year. After Saturday's match, the Gaels end the season with their final three matches at home.