MORAGA, Calif. — The Gaels (10-9, 4-3 WCC) reached double-digit victories on the 2023 season this afternoon, as they fired on all cylinders in a 3-0 sweep (25-11, 25-19, 25-15) of Portland (6-13, 1-6 WCC). Saint Mary's had put together brilliant stretches throughout this season, but seemed to have everything clicking, as the Pilots had no response for the Gaels crafty attack and stifling defense. 

OPERATING AT PEAK EFFICIENCY
The Gaels hit at a whopping 44.6% today, the sixth best hitting percentage in a single match in program history. The team committed just seven errors throughout the three set match, while their top three hitters, Kjersti Strong, Hannah Taylor, and Kristen Erland combined to hit at 64.9% (24 kills, 37 swings, no errors). 

TWO IN FOUR
After recording her first career double-double last week at San Francisco, Kjersti Strong wasted no time in picking up her second just nine days later, with 10 kills and 10 blocks in a dominant performance at home against Portland. Strong leads the Gaels in both kills and blocks in what has been a truly stellar senior campaign. 

RECEIVE READY
The Gaels were clearly prepared for the Pilots, who are the best serving team in the conference in terms of aces this week, as Portland was able to just sneak to aces in against the stout Saint Mary's serve receive team. The strong serve receive game from the Gaels paired with their high hitting percentage were clearly the driving factors behind today's victory.

QUOTABLE
"We put everything together this match. We haven't done that as frequently as we'd like this year, where our serve and pass game is on, our blocking and attack are really good, and so on, but we just put a really good game together. Everything seemed to click for us today, so we're hoping to keep that going, and hoping that it's just a sign of our team getting better. We've got a lot of conference matches to go and we need to keep improving." – Head Coach Rob Browning

UP NEXT
The Gaels will square off with the Pacific Tigers in Stockton to round out the first time through conference opponents on Thursday, October 19. First serve is set for 6 PM. 

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