SAN JOSE, Calif. — Going on the road to close out the week, Saint Mary's Volleyball met up with San Jose State inside Spartan Gym early on Friday evening. The Gaels entered the match in search of their first win of the season, and after a slow start, they certainly put a scare into the Spartans. Saint Mary's won the third set in dramatic fashion with a 26-24 final, but lost the opening sets 25-11 and 25-20 before falling the final set 25-20. With the loss, the Gaels are winless in four matches while San Jose State improves to 3-1.
 
STAVING OFF ELIMINATION
Saint Mary's looked a bit slow early in the match, but came roaring back to life by the time third set rolled around. This time, the Gaels did not allow themselves to fall into an early hole, and instead found themselves leading midway through the match. They held an 18-13 lead before San Jose State rattled off seven-straight points to lead 21-18, putting the Gaels on the brink. That's when Kjersti Strong got momentum back on the side of SMC, with a big block, and then two attack errors from SJSU tied the match at 21-21. The teams traded points all the way to 24 all, when Genevieve Bane smacked one down for a kill to give the Gaels set point, which they recorded after an error from San Jose State. This won the third set for the Gaels, and kept the match going.
 
HATS OFF TO HAWLEY
Friday night was a career-best performance for one of the Gaels best attackers, Hawley Harrer. The fifth-year senior from Sisters, Oregon was virtually unstoppable, leading the Gaels with a career-best 19 kills on the night. What was perhaps even more impressive was that she did not have a single attack error on 40 swings, racking up a .475 hitting percentage. She also tied for the team lead in blocks with four on what was an all-around spectacular night for her.
 
THE TURNING POINT
The Gaels were in a decent position to turn the match into a five-setter based on the way the fourth set was playing out. SMC and SJSU were trading points back and forth to the 13-12 mark, with the Gaels holding a slim one-point lead. San Jose State then rattled off five-straight points that flipped the match over. Letizia Cammillucci was serving and she had three-consecutive aces to close out that run. That push was enough for San Jose State to reclaim the lead and never look back.
 
FINAL NUMBERS
Ella Sandt had her first 30-assist performance of the season, setting an early-season high that is two shy of her career best…Megan Chandler Allred set a career-best in digs with 12, one of three Gaels to record at least 11 digs (Makenna Joyce 12, Sandt 11)…Kjersti Strong was one of the leaders, along with Harrer, of an improved block by the Gaels, as they put up nine blocks after struggling early in that department.
 
QUOTABLE
"Proud of our team for fighting. We are figuring some things out and I like the direction we are headed. We need to learn and improve faster though. It will come. We just need to get there faster. Hawley was absolutely magnificent tonight. She figured out how to get kills in so many different situations. Really fun to watch her work her magic out there." – head coach, Rob Browning
 
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's will look for its first win of the season at home when they return next weekend for a pair of matches inside University Credit Union Pavilion. First, the Gaels will welcome in Pennsylvania from the East Coast for a non-conference match on Friday night at 7:00 pm. Then, the Gaels will turn around and host CSUN at 1:00 pm on Saturday afternoon.