MORAGA, Calif. — Thursday night marked the beginning of the final home stand for Saint Mary's Volleyball during the 2022 season. They sure did kick it off on the right foot. A back-and-forth match that went down to the wire had a fitting end, as
Hawley Harrer slammed down a kill to cap off a career-night and a five-set win over Gonzaga, with scores of 23-25, 25-19, 25-18, 21-25, and 15-11. Saint Mary's improves to 8-16 (5-11) while dropping the Zags to 6-21 (2-14).
HEY NOW, HAWLEY!
There were few flaws in the game of
Hawley Harrer on Thursday night. She was the best player on the floor, and it wasn't even close. She came out of the gates with seven kills in the opening set, and then bested that with eight kills in the third set, which put the Gaels up 2-1 in the match. She was also the driving force behind the fifth set success, where she had five of the team's 13 kills. When added all up, Harrer blew past her career-best in kills, putting up a grand total of 26. That mark ties the tenth-most kills in a match during the rally scoring era at Saint Mary's.
START WITH THE ENDING
The decisive fifth set was entertaining throughout, with Gonzaga pulling ahead early to take a 6-3 lead. SMC came storming back, however, and tied it at 7-7 thanks to back-to-back kills from
Ashley Reed, who was strong down the stretch. Reed added another to put the Gaels up 9-8, and they wouldn't look back from there. An ace from
Ella Sandt made it 11-9 and forced a Gonzaga timeout, and with the score at 13-11 SMC, Harrer took care of the rest. She capped off the night with the final two kills to close the book on a stellar match.
HOW WE GOT THERE
Both teams were nearly deadlocked for most of the first set, with Gonzaga pulling ahead late and winning by two points. In the second and third sets, the Gaels offense continued to be efficient, and they were able to win both sets in a much easier fashion, with Gonzaga never pulling closer than four points late in either set. The fourth set is where the tides turned, as Gonzaga held a massive 19-10 lead after going on an 8-0 run. SMC chipped away and made it a two-point score at 23-21, but Gonzaga closed out and forced the match into an extra set.
LOTS OF NUMBERS
Several players joined Harrer with career-bests, including
Megan Chandler Allred, who reached 10 kills for the first time in her career…
Hailee Garcia was crucial as the second setter in the 6-2, posting a career-best with 25 assists…
Makenna Joyce was all over the place defensively, reaching 28 digs for the first time in her career, while also picking up her first kill and adding nine assists…
Genevieve Bane tied a career-best with 13 digs.
QUOTABLES
"We showed some grit. I'm really proud of us. We learned how to fight through the ups and downs…Ella was feeding me great sets and pumping me up, telling me what was open, and luckily whatever I was swinging just kept working. So, keep doing what works right?" –
Hawley Harrer
"[Hawley] was steady throughout. The more we could get the ball to her, the better that was going to be for us. She stepped up big time. Our setters did a really good job. Ella and Hailee did a great job tonight. Our offense was really good, except for the fourth set, but other than that, it was really good and that's a huge credit to our centers. But Hawley has been big for us all season and she came through big time tonight." – head coach,
Rob Browning
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's will try to make it a perfect two-for-two at home this week when they close out the week against Portland on Saturday afternoon at 12:00 pm. There are many reasons to make it out to University Credit Union Pavilion, including Senior Day and Homecoming 2022 festivities. Senior Day goodies will take place just prior to first serve against Portland, with the Gaels honoring Harrer as their lone senior.
#GaelsRise
