MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's (16-12, 10-6 WCC) put together one of their best performances of the year in the season finale against Pacific (18-10, 10-6 WCC). The Gaels trailed just one time throughout the entire match, at 1-0 in the second set, but looked dominant from start to finish in the sweep victory (25-18, 25-18, 25-19).
SENIOR SPOTLIGHT
All four seniors honored in today's pregame festivities were involved in the winning effort. Kate Blackwell appeared in every set of the match for the 10th time in her two season career, making three digs and playing well in serve receive. Makenna Joyce put together her fifth consecutive 15+ dig match, bringing her season total to 418, while notching her team-high 33rd service ace. Ella Sandt was one dig shy of a double-double with 31 assists and nine digs, to go along with three kills and three blocks. Last, but certainly not lost, Kjersti Strong led the Gaels with 12 kills and four blocks. It most certainly was the seniors' day on senior day!
ALL HAIL THE NEW QUEENS
Two individual Saint Mary's records fell today. With five kills on eight swings and no errors,
Kristen Erland set the new single season hitting percentage record (0.397). Erland's fellow middle blocker,
Kjersti Strong, also set a hitting percentage record, as she will graduate as the career leader in that category, hitting at 0.313.
SEASON IN REVIEW
With their second win over the Pacific Tigers, the Gaels finished in fourth place in the WCC, their best finish since 2018. Kjersti Strong led the Gaels with 308 kills and 161 blocks, while Kristen Erland finished the season with a record-breaking 0.397 hitting percentage. Ella Sandt tallied a team-high 690 assists, while Makenna Joyce led Saint MAry's with 418 digs and 33 service aces. The Gaels broke the 1300 kill mark as a team for the first time since 2017, while their 290 blocks were the most since 2015.
QUOTABLE
"Fantastic match for the Gaels! Pacific is obviously a very good team but we were able to keep the upper hand from start to finish. I am so immensely proud of our 4 seniors. Ella, Kate, Makenna and Kjersti were especially dominant today. They are wonderful examples of what SMCVB is all about." – Head Coach Rob Browning
#GaelsRise
