BVB | Saint Mary’s Wins One, Loses One on First Day of WCC Tournament

Thursday, April 27

Santa Monica, CA

10:30 am

Saint Mary's College of California

San Francisco

Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner

BVB | Saint Mary’s Wins One, Loses One on First Day of WCC Tournament

4/27/2023 1:38:00 PM | Women's Beach Volleyball

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Thursday marked the opening day of the 2023 West Coast Conference Tournament for beach volleyball. Saint Mary's embarked to their usual destination of Ocean Park Beach in Santa Monica for the annual event, entered as a three-seed for this year's tournament. The day began with a sweep of San Francisco before the Gaels fell to the second-seeded Waves of Pepperdine in the afternoon. The Gaels now own a record of 15-18 and will attempt to make the WCC Championship match on Friday, if they can win two more matches starting on Friday morning.

Match 1: Saint Mary's 5, San Francisco 0

The WCC Tournament got off to a great start for Saint Mary's, as they took down the Dons in a sweep to advance to the second round of the winner's bracket. The fives finished up first, with Angie Bour and Hannah Glick winning in the most dominant fashion of any Gaels pair, with wins of 21-11 and 21-12. Genevieve Bane and Sadie Shipman finished second in the twos and won by the same score of 21-17 in both sets. The Gaels top flight of Hawley Harrer and Daniella Kensinger earned their 20^th win of the season to get the clinching point, with scores of 21-13 and 21-17.

After the SMC pairs in the threes and fours lost their first sets, they both came back to win in three sets. Karmin Brown and Hannah Couch had a great recovery, winning their second set 21-17 before controlling the final set from the start and winning 15-9. Meanwhile, Allie Cataldo and Paola Peralta won their second set 21-16 and then also cruised through the third set 15-7 to cap off the sweep for Saint Mary's.

RESULTS
(5) Angie Bour/Hannah Glick (SMC) def. Isadore Nicolai/Sophia Solomon (USF) 21-11, 21-12
(2) Genevieve Bane/Sadie Shipman (SMC) def. Claire Crijns/Branson Lennon (USF) 21-17, 21-17
(1) Hawley Harrer/Genevieve Bane (SMC) def. Letizia Aquilino/McKenna Towne (USF) 21-13, 21-17
(3) Karmin Brown/Hannah Couch (SMC) def. Jolie Gutierrez/Rylie Reeves (USF) 18-21, 21-17, 15-9
(4) Allie Cataldo/Paola Peralta (SMC) def. Francesca Stanschus/Rainie Stevens (USF) 19-21, 21-16, 15-7

Match 2: #19 Pepperdine 5, Saint Mary's 0

There was no repeat performance for Saint Mary's against a ranked Pepperdine squad. In March, the Gaels beat the Waves for just the second time in program history, but this time fell in a 5-0 defeat, which sends the Gaels to the elimination bracket of the tournament. Hawley Harrer and Daniella Kensinger continue to put up solid results even in losses, with scores of 21-16 and 21-16 in their defeat. That was the second-closest match for SMC against Pepperdine.

The closest final came in the final pair to finish, which came in the fours. Allie Cataldo and Paola Peralta took the first set from Gracey Campbell and Juju Quintero in bonus points, needing to win 24-22 to close it out. They dropped the second set 21-17 to set up the third and deciding set, and despite hanging around for most of the set, they fell 15-11 to close out the Pepperdine sweep. Still, despite the loss, Cataldo and Peralta showed a lot of fight in having two of the better results on the day.

RESULTS
(2) Lexi McLeod/Aubrey Roberts (PEP) def. Genevieve Bane/Sadie Shipman (SMC) 21-8, 21-14
(5) Kristine Briede/Maddie Oriskovich (PEP) def. Angie Bour/Hannah Glick (SMC) 21-14, 21-8
(3) Gabbie Perez/Savannah Standage (PEP) def. Karmin Brown/Hannah Couch (SMC) 21-14, 21-15
(1) Kate Clermont/McKenna Thomas (PEP) def. Hawley Harrer/Daniella Kensinger (SMC) 21-16, 21-16
(4) Gracey Campbell/Juju Quintero (PEP) def. Allie Cataldo/Paola Peralta (SMC) 22-24, 21-17, 15-11

UP NEXT
By virtue of their results from Thursday, Saint Mary's will now resume play on Friday morning at 9:00 am, with the possibility of playing three matches on the day. They will draw the winner of the final match that takes place on Thursday, which is between Santa Clara and a to-be-determined opponent. A win for the Gaels would move them into the semifinal match which could be against Pepperdine once again.

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