MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's Beach Volleyball continues to build on their winning ways against the Pacific Tigers, taking care of business on Wednesday afternoon at home in a 5-0 sweep. After three-in-a-row over the Tigers, the Gaels have now won six matches in a row overall and are 6-4 on the season, quickly erasing their 0-4 start.
The Gaels rolled out a couple of new looks at the Tigers this time around, with two new pairs getting together for the first time.
Megan Chandler and
Trinity Durfee teamed up in the fives for the first time this season, and scored the first victory of the day, taking down the Tigers 21-13 and 21-14. The other new pair featured the 2022 debut of
Hawley Harrer, returning from injury after spending time as part of the top pair for Saint Mary's last year. She teamed up with
Aeriel Sundt in the fours and they disposed of Pacific 21-14 and 21-19 to start perfect as a pair.
The clinching match came from
Karmin Brown and
Makenna Joyce, who won in the threes with a score of 21-11 and 21-14. Saint Mary's won all five matches on the day, including the exhibition, but they did lose two games along the way.
Jennifer "Boo" Laird and
Jasmin Suarez lost their opening game by five, but rebounded and controlled things in the final two games.
Kristen Erland and
Laura Studebaker lost their first game of the exhibition, but wound up winning the last two in extra points to secure a perfect day for the Gaels.
RESULTS
(5)
Megan Chandler/
Trinity Durfee (SMC) def. Jewel Turner/Francheska Aguilar (UoP) 21-13, 21-14
(1)
Jennifer "Boo" Laird/
Jasmin Suarez (SMC) def. Hania Taduran/Sammie Shepherd (UoP) 16-21, 21-11, 15-9
(3)
Karmin Brown/
Makenna Joyce (SMC) def. Megan Nishimura/Darina Kumanava (UoP) 21-11, 21-14
(4)
Hawley Harrer/
Aeriel Sundt (SMC) def. Sharzy Sadeghi/Brooklyn Thomas (UoP) 21-14, 21-19
(2)
Selbie Christensen/
Chandler Cowell (SMC) def. Jenny Todd/Lucy Carpenter (UoP) 21-14, 21-8
(6)
Kristen Erland/
Laura Studebaker (SMC) def. Megan Nishimura/Sammie Shepherd (UoP) 15-21, 24-22, 22-20 (exhibition)
POSTGAME QUOTES
"The girls battled hard today against the Pacific Tigers. Pacific always shows up strong and scrappy and today each team got to work on their focus and intensity throughout the entire game. We pulled off an impressive 5-0 win against them, and I'm really proud of how our team has grown and how consistent we are looking." -
Aeriel Sundt
"Today was an overall great day for the team to focus on trying new things, pushing limits as a team and in pairs. It was really exciting to be back out there! I am eager to keep getting better with my partner Aeriel! No where but up for the Gaels." -
Hawley Harrer
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's will head to San Jose for the weekend as they play neutral-site matches hosted by San Jose State. The Gaels will play four times across Friday and Saturday, with matches on Friday featuring Sacramento State and San Jose State, and San Francisco and Oregon on Saturday. This marks the first of two weekends where the Gaels will have tournament-style play going on, as they have the WCC Midseason Invitational the following weekend.
#GaelsRise
