PORTLAND, Ore. — West Coast Conference play began on Wednesday afternoon up in Portland as Saint Mary's and the Pilots got together for a rare Wednesday tilt. It was the true definition of a back-and-forth match, with both teams trading set victories until the decisive fifth set. Saint Mary's was able to seize control last, emerging with a 15-5 win in the final set to take the match. The Gaels improve to 4-5 (1-0) while dropping Portland to 7-5 (0-1).
FIRST SET BLOCK PARTY
The Gaels block came out full throat in the opening set, as SMC recorded an impressive five blocks in the first stanza. Two of the first five points came via the block, as
Genevieve Bane and
Ella Sandt combined for the first, and then
Kristen Erland and
Hawley Harrer teamed up for the next. All told, it was Harrer and Erland adding three block assists in the opening set, with Harrer recorded consecutive blocks at points 15 and 16, helping the Gaels take the first set 25-18. In the match, the Gaels wound up out-blocking Portland 10-7.
REMEMBER WHEN…
…the Gaels recorded a program-record 19 service aces at Portland last October? The Gaels might not have put up 19 aces on Wednesday, but they were much improved, racking up 12 aces for a season-best and tied for the ninth-most in a match in Gaels history (last occurred in 2018). Five different Gaels recorded aces, including four from
Makenna Joyce, who tied a career-best that she set in the historic performance last season. Three of those team aces came in the final set, with
Kate Blackwell ending the afternoon with set point on her third career ace.
SEIZE THE MATCH
The third set wound up being the most crucial, with the Gaels dropping the fourth set. Tied at 1-1, Saint Mary's won a thrilling third set by the slimmest of margins, with the score tied 20-20 late in the set.
Kjersti Strong wound up tallying a pair of kills to put the Gaels in front, and they would stay in front thanks to a kill and the 23
rd point from
Ashley Reed. The Gaels got to set point on a kill from Bane and then won it from a smash by Harrer, emerging 25-23. Despite dropping the fourth set, Saint Mary's still had plenty of confidence and momentum to stranglehold the Pilots 15-5 in the final set.
TOP PERFORMERS
Harrer was the leading attacker on Wednesday with 16 kills and a .400 hitting percentage, with her 16 kills being the second-most in a match this year…she also added 10 digs for a her first Saint Mary's double-double…Bane added 13 kills and Strong had 10 kills without an attack error, good for a .625 hitting percentage…Sandt paced the team in assists with 33 and Joyce led the way in digs with 11.
QUOTABLES
"We did a lot of really good things across the five-set match. When we struggled to side-out offensively, we served and blocked more aggressively. We kept fighting through our moments of weakness and secured the win, but we are excited to make consistency in every area of the game a defining characteristic of Saint Mary's volleyball. Good after good. Bring on conference play!" –
Ashley Reed
"I love how we closed out this match. That's a great trait for a team to have. I don't love how inconsistent we were throughout the course of the match. We need to be much better offensively. We will be. Really proud of the team though for stepping up in that fifth set." – head coach,
Rob Browning
UP NEXT
The Gaels will continue their WCC-opening road trip on Saturday afternoon as they head up to Gonzaga to take on the Bulldogs. Saint Mary's will have an extra day to prepare following their rare Wednesday conference tilt, which should be advantageous heading into the match. Recent contests between Saint Mary's and Gonzaga have been split down the middle, with each team holding a 6-6 record over the last 12 matches. Gonzaga was the last team to sweep a season series, coming back in 2015.
#GaelsRise
