MORAGA, Calif. — Saturday afternoon's match between Saint Mary's Volleyball and Loyola Marymount had just about everything that fans could ask for. Efficient offenses, great defense, some wicked serving, and a match that came down to the fifth and final set, going the absolute distance. Saint Mary's seems positioned to win the match in the fifth, but the Lions stormed back thanks to a 7-0 run to win the match in five sets with finals of 25-21, 21-25, 24-26, 26-24, and 13-15. The Gaels drop to 7-14 (4-9) while the Lions improve to 16-7 (11-3).
 
STARTING STRONG
The Gaels have been firing out of the gates well in recent weeks, and that trend continued on Saturday afternoon against Loyola Marymount. Both teams engaged in a back-and-forth affair that saw 10 ties and four lead changes, but the Gaels made the right moves late in the set to win it. SMC led 21-18 after an ace from Ella Sandt, which then led to an LMU timeout. After the teams traded points up to 22-20, the Gaels got the next two, which featured a kill from Kristen Erland. Set point was knocked down by Kjersti Strong, who capped off a great opening set with a kill, winning it 25-21 for the Gaels.
 
EXTENDING IT
Both the third and fourth sets wound up going beyond a score 25, and the Gaels used a great comeback to get there in the third set. Down 23-19, Saint Mary's eventually tied it at 24-24, with a kill from Hawley Harrer and an ace from Genevieve Bane getting the rally started. The Lions were able to score the final two points, however, to take a 2-1 lead in the match. In the fourth set, the Gaels were the ones with a 23-19 lead but couldn't close it out initially, letting the Lions score four-straight to even the score. With it again tied at 24-24, a block from Erland and Bane led to an attack error from the Lions, and the Gaels survived the fourth set 26-24 to advance to a fifth set.
 
EBB AND FLOW
There was a sense that fifth set was going to go to the home team, as Saint Mary's raced out to a 3-1 lead and eventually pushed it all the way to 13-8, forcing the Lions to play with their backs against the wall. That's when the match did a complete 180-degree flip. LMU scored the next four points to make it 13-12, and the Gaels called a timeout. Then LMU scored two more points to pull ahead 14-13, and SMC called another timeout to try and break the rhythm. Out of the stoppage, the Lions got the final point on a kill from Audrey Klemp, closing out eight-straight points for the Lions and a 3-2 overall win.
 
THE NUMBERS
The Gaels offense was much improved on Saturday afternoon, hitting at .249 for the day, including .345 in the first set and .353 in the second set…Erland and Strong both had career-days from an attacking perspective, as they both set career-highs with 15 kills…the middle blocking duo also combined for two solo blocks and seven block assists…Hailee Garcia was just two assists shy of a career-best with 19…Sandt set a career-best in aces with five and in digs with 18 as the Gaels racked up 64 digs (Joyce led the way with 19).
 
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's will head out on the road for the final time during the 2022-23 season next week when they take on a pair of ranked teams in the WCC. They will open at No. 2 San Diego on Thursday night before heading out to Provo to take on No. 18 BYU for the final time in WCC play, with that match taking place on Saturday.