MALIBU, Calif. — The two longest winning streaks in the WCC were put to the test Thursday evening, Saint Mary's Gaels (12-10, 6-4 WCC), winners of their last six, took on the Pepperdine Waves (14-6, 10-0 WCC), winners of 12 in a row. The Waves set the tone early, looking dominant in set one, however, the Gaels were able to seize momentum at points in sets two and three. Unfortunately for Saint Mary's, Pepperdine's closers stepped up to close out the latter two sets as well, earning the 3-0 sweep (14-25, 20-25, 17-25).
SERVING ACCURACY
The Gaels had a season low in service errors, landing all but one serve in the court. Saint Mary's refused to beat themselves at the service line, after recording eight service errors when hosting Pepperdine four weeks ago. Despite the strong serving performance from the Gaels, the Waves' back row stood tall, surrendering just one ace to the Gaels on the evening, belonging to Ella Sandt.Â
200 BLOCKS FOR STRONG
With her seven block performance tonight, middle blocker Kjersti Strong reached the 200 block mark for her career. Strong, who's been a dominant force at the net for two seasons with the Gaels, joins fellow middle blocker Kristen Erland, who joined the 200 block club earlier this season. Kjersti's 1.2 career blocks per set rank her seventh all-time in program history, while her 1.58 blocks per set this season tie her for fourth best for a Gael in a single season with Stacey O'Connor.Â
AMONGST OTHER NUMBERS
Hannah Taylor and Abby Castillon tied for the team lead with six kills apiece. Ella Sandt led the setting front with 10 assists, while Hailee Garcia accumulated nine. On the defensive front, the Gaels tallied eight total blocks, seven of which Kjersti Strong was involved in, while Makenna Joyce amassed a team-high nine digs.Â
QUOTABLE
"Pepperdine played very well tonight. They served us very tough right off the bat and we didn't handle that as well as we could have. We battled in the 2nd and 3rd sets but they just were too good tonight." -- Head Coach
Rob Browning
UP NEXT
The Gaels return home to host San Diego on Saturday inside UCU Pavilion. First serve is set for 1 PM.Â
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