MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's Volleyball (5-9, 1-4 WCC) threw everything they had at their new WCC foe, the Washington State Cougars (10-5, 5-1 WCC), even taking a commanding 2-0 lead, but they couldn't quite polish off a decisive set, with the Cougs rattling off three straight to earn the reverse sweep on the road. The Gaels continue to play strong volleyball offensively, but teams have been able to match their production so far this season, as the Cougars were able to do today.
Set one was a back and forth affair to reach an 11 all stalemate, before Washington State rattled off four straight points to get within ten points of closing out set one. The Gaels, however, were not hindered, and remained resilient, even when the Cougars took a 22-20 lead late. Two Clarissa Klein kills and a Genevieve Bane service ace would give the Gaels a late 23-22 lead, and while the Cougs tied things up at 23s, Klein recaptured momentum with another massive kill before Katherine Gee polished the set off with an ace. Klein connected for six kills on seven swings in the first set, while Hannah Taylor went for three on five swings. The Gaels hit 0.412 as a team in the set.
As good as set one was, set two was even better for Saint Mary's, hitting at 0.419 for the frame while never trailing. Genevieve Bane and Hannah Taylor combined for eight of the Gaels 17 set two kills, while Clarissa Klein remained errorles with three more kills on six swings.
The Gaels finally came back down to earth in set three, where after building and early 4-2 lead, they surrendered a 5-2 run in which the Cougars would capture momentum and never relinquish it. Genevieve Bane was the only player for the Gaels with more than one kill for the set, tallying three.
The sluggish third set for the Gaels seemed to leak into the start of set four as well, as the Gaels found themselves in an early 13-6 hole. Again, the Gaels were not deterred by the slow start, however, chipping away at the deficit before eventually tying things up at 19-19. The gas seemed to run out for the Gaels at that point, however, as Washington State would go onto force a fifth by closing out the fourth set on a 6-3 run. Hannah Taylor returned to form in the fourth set with four more kills.
With momentum trending back towards the Gaels heading into the fifth set, Saint Mary's jumped out to a 5-1 lead thanks to a pair of massive Genevieve Bane kills. This time, it was Washington State who showed resilience, battling through the deficit to tie things up at 11. Clarissa Klein would give the Gaels their final lead of the match at 12-11, and would tie things up with her final kill of the match at 13-13, but Washington State would take the final two of the match to escape UCU Pavilion with a W.
Clarissa Klein had yet another brilliant offensive day, tallying a career-high 18 kills, and hitting at 0.500. Genevieve Bane finished just one behind her with 17, while Hannah Taylor went for 11. Madi Zorn and Hailee Garcia each tallied 24 assists, while Garcia, Bane and Katherine Gee each notched a pair of service aces. Natalie Peete recorded a career-high 19 digs, while Hailee Garcia came up with 11 and Abby Castillon went for 10. The Gaels had six blocks as a team, with Tessa Schouten getting her hands on three of them.
KLEIN KEEPS ROLLING
Clarissa Klein has put up arguably the best four match stretch of her Saint Mary's career over the past two weeks. The redshirt sophomore out of Sherwood, Oregon had tallied eight or more kills in each of her last three matches coming into this one, and continued that trend in a big way today, with a career-high 18 kills. Not only was Klein able to see a high volume of kills, but also hit with extreme accuracy, tallying just one error in the match, while swinging 34 times, good for a 0.500 hitting clip. In her last four matches, Klein has gone four 44 kills and is hitting at 0.411.
CAREER DAY FOR PEETE
Redshirt freshman libero Natalie Peete also had a match to remember for the Gaels, tallying a career-best 19 digs and six assists. As put by The Voice of Saint Mary's Volleyball, Griffin Snyder, "70% of the Earth is covered by water, the rest today was covered by Natalie Peete." No truer words could've been uttered, as Peete made dig after heroic dig, keeping the Gaels hopes alive in this one until the bitter end.
SPEAKING ABOUT CAREER HIGHS
Peete and Klein were not the only Gaels with career matches today. Katherine Gee tied her career best with a pair of service aces, while Madi Zorn set a new career-high with eight digs. Genevieve Bane also tied her career-high in kills with 17 for the third time this season.
UP NEXT
The Gaels will head to SoCal next week, where they will take on Pepperdine and LMU.
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