SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Saint Mary's Beach Volleyball returns after a nine-day hiatus to begin the final three weeks of the regular season. The Gaels will be in West Coast Conference action this week as they head down to Santa Clara to take on the Broncos on Tuesday afternoon. This is the lone beach match of the week for SMC, who will play Santa Clara again at home on April 20.
 
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's Gaels (13-11, 7-2) at Santa Clara Broncos (7-14, 1-3)
Tuesday, April 12 at 4:00 pm
Santa Clara Beach Volleyball Courts – Santa Clara, Calif.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Saint Mary's Beach Volleyball continued a daunting stretch of their schedule on April 3 in Palo Alto with a pair of matches against ranked teams. The Gaels went head-to-head with #11 Cal Poly and #8 Stanford, and they put up a fight against both squads, but ultimately came up short in a pair of sweeps on Sunday. SMC won just one set on the afternoon, coming in the fours against Stanford (Hawley Harrer/Aeriel Sundt), but they were awfully close in several other sets. In dropping both matches 5-0, the Gaels have yet to beat a ranked team during the 2022 season.
 
ABOUT SANTA CLARA
Tuesday's matchup between Saint Mary's and Santa Clara is actually the home opener for the Broncos, who have played all 21 matches away from home this season. Following Tuesday's contest, the Broncos will host #12 Cal and Pacific on Friday, April 15 for the other two home matches on their schedule. Where the Broncos have been dangerous is in their top pair, which has been anchored by Michelle Shaffer. SCU is 15-6 at the No. 1 pairs this season, their best record for any spot in the lineup.