VB | Gaels Escape the Pacific Northwest Unbeaten, Down Pilots in Five

Saturday, November 11

Portland, OR

1:00 pm

Saint Mary's College of California

15-11,9-5WCC

Portland

8-19,3-12WCC

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Saint Mary's (CA)	25	14	26	16	15	3
Portland	20	25	24	25	7	2

Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner

VB | Gaels Escape the Pacific Northwest Unbeaten, Down Pilots in Five

11/11/2023 4:15:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

PORTLAND — The final roadtrip of the season for the Gaels (15-11, 9-5 WCC) was the most competitive of the season, as after a five-set nailbiter Thursday night at Gonzaga, were again forced to five in their victory over Portland (8-19, 3-12 WCC). The Pilots played inspired volleyball on their senior night, but the Gaels were able to seize momentum early in the final set to eventually stave off the upset (25-20, 14-25, 26-24, 16-25, 15-7).

CLEANING UP THEIR ACT
Through the first two sets, Saint Mary's had surrendered 10 service aces to one of the toughest serving teams in the WCC, the Pilots. Regardless of opponent, Coach Browning was clearly not pleased with the early serve receive performance, and conveyed this message over the five minute intermission between sets two and three. Whatever message he was trying to convey, it was clearly heard by the Gaels, who surrendered just three aces throughout the remainder of the contest. While allowing 13 service aces is certainly something that will not please the Gaels, they have to be pleased with their in match adjustment.

THE WEEK OF TAYLOR
Junior transfer Hannah Taylor enjoyed her best week as Gael, and that is certainly saying something with the debut season she's put up. Taylor's 15 kills today brought her weekend total to 32, the most over any two game span for her this season. The Gaels were able to feed Taylor throughout this road drip when opponents keyed on Kjersti Strong and Genevieve Bane, as she recorded 70 swings this week. Taylor answered the bell, and will likely continue to see high volume swings in the Gaels final week of the season.

CLIMBING THE RANKS
The Gaels have numerous players climbing in the record books as the season approaches its culmination. Kristen Erland's 0.400 hitting percentage continues to be the best ever in a single season for the Gaels, while Kjersti Strong's 0.331 ranks her 10th best in a single year. Makenna Joyce brought her season dig tally to 388 today, climbing into the top-10 for a single season with two matches to go, while her 3.88 digs per set currently ranks fifth best in a single season. On the blocking front, Kjersti Strong ranks fifth best in block assists (141) and is tied for third in total blocks (155) for a single season, while fifth in blocks per set (1.53) in a single season. All-time, Kjersti Strong's 0.309 career hitting percentage ties her for third best in the program record books, Ella Sandt's career 5.99 assists per set ranks 10th best in program history, Makenna Joyce's career 3.22 digs per set ranks 10th best in program history, and Strong's 1.22 career blocks per set ranks seventh all-time in program history.

QUOTABLE
"I'm proud of our team for battling on this road trip. This is always a challenging pair of matches on the road, and both Gonzaga and Portland played very well against us. They wanted revenge from our wins in October. I love the poise our team had, especially in the 5th set." -- Head Coach Rob Browning

UP NEXT
The Gaels return home for the final week in the season, hosting LMU on Thursday and Pacific on Saturday. First serve Thursday night is set for 7:00 PM.

DON'T MISS OUT ON HOME VOLLEYBALL ACTION. TICKETS ARE ON SALE HERE.

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