SAN FRANCISCO — The Saint Mary's Gaels (7-9, 1-3) made the trek across the Bay Bridge to take on the USF Dons (8-9, 2-3), and will return home with their first WCC win of the season, defeating the Dons in four sets (20-25, 25-14, 25-16, 25-21). The Gaels led in nearly every statistical category, and were able to overcome a sluggish start to bring an end to their recent drought.  

CLEANING UP THEIR ACT
After the Gaels committed 5 errors in the first 9 points of the match, it seemed that USF could go into cruise control, ahead 8-1 in set one. Saint Mary's showed their signature fortitude, cleaning up their attack to the tune of just two errors throughout the remainder of the set. That trend remained throughout the remainder of the match, as the Gaels finished with a 0.304 hitting percentage, their second highest of the season, and their best since the season opener against Manhattan. This effort was led by Kristen Erland, who tallied nine kills on 16 swings and no errors for a 0.538 attack clip. 

FLIPPING THE SCRIPT
The start to set two was the polar opposite of set one for the Gaels, as they got off to a 14-4 lead, and would not commit their first attack error until they held a 21-11 lead. On top of the precise hitting from Saint Mary's in set two, the Gaels also got their blockers to heat up, tallying five total blocks in set two. The blocking effort was spearheaded by Kjersti Strong, getting involved in four of those five blocks. This set opened the floodgates to the Gaels success throughout the rest of the match.

STRONG SHAKES IT OFF
After being held without a block for the first time this season last week against Pepperdine, Kjersti Strong put the conference on notice that she is still one of the most formidable players at the net in the WCC. Strong led an impressive blocking effort for the Gaels with a career-high 10 in the match. As a team, Saint Mary's tallied 14 total blocks, their most since their September 12 matchup with San Jose State. On top of Strong's excellent play at the net, she also added a team high 15 kills, serving as the truly dominant force for the Gaels tonight.  

QUOTABLE
"I'm really proud of our team for fighting to the end tonight. San Francisco came back in the forth set and really challenged us, and our team responded really well. It was a great match for a bunch of our players. Genevieve Bane really showed the kind of player that she is, our setters managed the match very well, and we served pretty tough which made a big difference." – Head Coach Rob Browning

"It felt really great to pick up the win. I think we finally put all of the pieces together. We've played some really good volleyball these past few weeks, but haven't come out on top, and I think that gave us a bit of a chip on out shoulder. We came out today with nothing to lose and we played together to earn this hard fought win. – Genevieve Bane

UP NEXT
The Gaels will take on Santa Clara on the road on Saturday, October 7. First serve is set for 1 PM. 

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