PALO ALTO, Calif. — Saint Mary's Beach Volleyball continued a daunting stretch of their schedule on Sunday afternoon 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. After the results, Saint Mary's drops to 13-10 on the season.
 
Match 1: #11 Cal Poly 5, Saint Mary's 0
 
Saint Mary's could not take a set away from the Mustangs, though they had several close bouts that could have gone either way. Only three out of 10 sets saw the Gaels score fewer than 15 points, meaning that they were within striking distance all morning long. Jasmin Suarez and Jennifer "Boo" Laird were close in both of their sets, scoring 17 and 19 points, while Aeriel Sundt and Hawley Harrer scored 19 in their second set, as did the Gaels top pairing of Chandler Cowell and Selbie Christensen. Despite losing both of their sets in the fives, Ella Sandt and Genevieve Bane scored 18 points in the first set.
 
RESULTS
(2) Piper Ferch/Jayelin Lombard (CP) def. Jasmin Suarez/Jennifer "Boo" Laird (SMC) 21-17, 21-19
(4) Vanessa Roscoe/Sam Strah (CP) def. Aeriel Sundt/Hawley Harrer (SMC) 21-16, 21-19
(1) Ella Connor/Tia Miric (CP) def. Chandler Cowell/Selbie Christensen (SMC) 21-15, 21-19
(3) Addie Hermstad/Peyton Dueck (CP) def. Makenna Joyce/Karmin Brown (SMC) 21-13, 21-7
(5) Mariah Whalen/Kalee Graff (CP) def. Ella Sandt/Genevieve Bane (SMC) 21-18, 21-13
 
Match 2: #8 Stanford 5, Saint Mary's 0
 
The Gaels made things interesting against Stanford, their second matchup of the season against Stanford (the first came in Hawaii to begin the season). The highlight came in the fours, as Harrer and Sundt nearly took the first set from Emmy Sharp and Maya Harvey, going the distance and then some in a 23-21 loss. The second set was even better, as they went just a bit further, and this time the Gaels won, with a 24-22 final. Harrer and Sundt couldn't pull off the third set win, but they showed a ton of fight to get to that point in the match.
 
In a similar fashion to their match against Cal Poly, Saint Mary's was never out of any contest. In the fives, Sandt and Bane again were competitive, scoring 17 and 15 points. Joyce and Brown put up solid scores of 19 and 14 in the threes, while Cowell and Christensen finished with 16 points in their final set.
 
RESULTS
(2) Xolani Hodel/Kate Reilly (STAN) def. Jasmin Suarez/Jennifer "Boo" Laird (SMC) 21-11, 21-13
(4) Emmy Sharp/Maya Harvey (STAN) def. Aeriel Sundt/Hawley Harrer (SMC) 23-21, 22-24, 15-5
(1) Charlie Ekstrom/Maddi Kriz (STAN) def. Chandler Cowell/Selbie Christensen (SMC) 21-12, 21-16
(5) Maddie Dailey/Jordan McKinney (STAN) def. Ella Sandt/Genevieve Bane (SMC) 21-17, 21-15
(3) Emma Morris/Taylor Wilson (STAN) def. Makenna Joyce/Karmin Brown (SMC) 21-19, 21-14
 
QUOTABLES
"We faced some really strong competitors today and everyone put up a good fight. These teams really push us to work hard, and I hope we can keep pushing ourselves to our highest level of play over these next few week! I'm really proud of my teammates and admire everyone's drive and effort." - Karmin Brown

"This is a rough stretch for us because we are competing against some of the top teams in the country. We are competing against teams that train your round and have a full-time beach program. The important thing for us is that we are competing hard and competing well. I am very proud of the fact that each one of our pairs is going to battle for every point against every team they play." – Rob Browning
 
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's will have some time off before getting back into West Coast Conference play for their next three matches. Over the next 17 days, however, the Gaels play just once, with that lone match coming on April 12 at Santa Clara. The Gaels will then host Santa Clara and San Francisco on April 20 and 21 for their final home matches of the 2022 season.