MORAGA, Calif. — In their first beach volleyball matchup at home during the 2022 season, Saint Mary's Beach Volleyball locked up with San Jose State in their first head-to-head since 2019. On what was a beautiful afternoon in Moraga, Saint Mary's earned their first win of the year by taking down San Jose State with a 3-2 final. The Gaels improve to 1-4 and
 
The opening sets of the day featured the top two pairs for Saint Mary's, and both Chandler Cowell/Selbie Christensen and Jennifer "Boo" Laird/Jasmin Suarez went to a third game. In what were back-and-forth games, both Gaels pairs took control late to pull ahead in the final points and emerge with victories, the first two wins of the season for any beach pair.
 
Things got a bit dicey as the fives and fours both lost for SMC, which put the burden on the final pairing for the Gaels. Makenn Joyce and Karmin Brown had to take it to a third set against Haylee Nelson and Mia Schafer, but they wound up winning 15-11 in the deciding set to take the match and give the Gaels their first win of 2022.
 
(1) Jasmin Suarez/Jennifer "Boo" Laird (SMC) def. Siena Brewster/Abby Alvarez (SJSU) 20-22, 21-7, 15-9
(2) Chandler Cowell/Selbie Christensen (SMC) def. Jaida Ward/Amethyst Harper (SJSU) 21-19, 20-22, 15-7
(5) Cheyenne Rice/Sarah Smevog (SJSU) def. Laura Studebaker/Allie Cataldo (SMC) 21-9, 21-13
(4) Madeline Boerstra/Chloe Culver (SJSU) def. Aeriel Sundt/Trinity Durfee (SMC) 21-16, 21-15
(3) Makenna Joyce/Karmin Brown (SMC) def. Haylee Nelson/Mia Schafer (SJSU) 21-19, 17-21, 15-11
(Exhibition) Alyssa Sugai/Allison Pereira (SJSU) def. Ella Sandt/Genevieve Bane (SMC) 21-19, 25-23
 
BROWNING BITES
"We're really happy with the win. San Jose State is a quality program and they compete hard. It was a quick turnaround from a long weekend in Hawaii, so we're pleased with how the team handled that. We all feel really good about the direction we are headed." – Rob Browning
 
SUAREZ SAYS
"It was great to win our first home match of the season. The team fought and battled today. We really pushed through this whole weekend of matches." – Jasmin Suarez
 
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's continues play this weekend when they head up to Sacramento State for a trio of matches on Saturday. The Gaels will play San Francisco, Sacramento State, and Pacific starting at 9:00 am on one of their busiest days of the season. Their match against Pacific will begin a stretch of three-straight beach matches against Pacific, with a home-and-home set to begin the following week.