MORAGA, Calif. — The young and talented Saint Mary's Volleyball team (5-9, 1-4 WCC) has continued to get better by the match, something that was well displayed this past week. The Gaels picked up their first win in WCC play with a quick sweep over Gonzaga that saw them hit over 0.400 for the first time this season and just the third time in the past seven seasons. They followed that up by taking Washington State, a team tied for first in the WCC, to five sets before narrowly falling in the fifth, 15-13, just missing their first signature upset of the season. Not to fret, the Gaels will have two more upset opportunities this week, as they head to SoCal, where they will take on third place Pepperdine on Thursday night, and first place LMU on Saturday afternoon, hoping to climb in the WCC standings themselves. 

THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's Gaels at Pepperdine Waves
Thursday, October 17 at 6 PM
Firestone Fieldhouse – Malibu, Calif. 
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Saint Mary's Gaels at LMU Lions
Saturday, October 19 at 1 PM
Gersten Pavilion – Los Angeles, Calif. 
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SINCE THE START OF CONFERENCE PLAY
Saint Mary's boasts a conference best 0.281 hitting percentage. They have committed a conference-low 66 attack errors, including just 33 unforced attack errors (hits out of bounds or in the net). The Gaels have a trio of hitters (Kaliko Kealoha, Tessa Schouten and Clarissa Klein) hitting over 0.300, paced Kealoha's 0.432. The Gaels have also seen their blocking numbers move up since the start of conference play, averaging just 1.85 blocks per set against non-WCC foes, but jumping to 2.11 against their conference opponents. Again, it's the true freshmen Schouten and Kealoha leading this front, each averaging 0.88 blocks per set since the start of conference play. 

HIT 0.565, WIN A PRIZE
Clarissa Klein could do no wrong last week on the volleyball hardwood, as the redshirt sophomore hit 0.565 en route to her first Shamrock Office Student Athlete of the Week. Klein is the second SMC Volleyball player to win this award this season, joining Genevieve Bane, who won the award on 9/18. This is the fifth consecutive season that Saint Mary's Volleyball has had multiple Shamrock Office Student Athletes of the Week in the same season. 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 tallied 18 kills last week, and continued her strong play into this week with 26 kills, hitting an incredible 0.565 clip. Against Gonzaga, Klein had her first career errorless match, going for eight kills on 11 swings. She followed that up with a career high 18 kills against Washington State. Klein now leads all Gael pin hitters with a 0.255 hitting percentage for the year. 

ABOUT THE WAVES
Defending WCC Champs Pepperdine come into this one with a 7-8 record, including a 4-1 conference record, tied for third. Their lone conference loss of the year came last Saturday, as they dropped a five set thriller to crosstown rival LMU. Head Coach Scott Wong continues to see his team vie for WCC titles year in and year out, with top three finishes in five of the last six years. After leading Pepperdine to their first WCC title since 2011 last year, Wong was named WCC Coach of the Year. The Waves did graduate two from their starting lineup, defending WCC libero of the year Riley Patterson and defending WCC setter of the year Isabel Zelaya, and lost two more All-WCC players, Emily Hellmuth and Meg Brown, to the portal, but still managed to retain two all-conference starters at outside hitter in the forms of Birdie Hendrickson and defending WCC player of the year Grace Chillingworth. This year, Hendrickson and Chillingworth have combined for 420 of Pepperdine's 745 kills and 30 of their 83 aces. Chillingworth ranks second in the conference in kills per set, while Hendrickson ranks sixth. The defense, however, is what truly has shined for the Waves this season. Four year Wave and first time starting libero Trinity Stranger ranks fourth in the WCC in digs per set, and true freshman middle blocker Ella Piskorz ranks fourth in blocks per set. As a team, the Waves average the second most digs per set in the WCC and have the fourth best opponent hitting percentage. All-time, Pepperdine leads the series over the Gaels 57-16, and has won the last 9 meetings. The Gaels have not beaten the Waves in Malibu since 2015.

ABOUT THE LIONS
The Gaels squared off with the LMU Lions three weeks ago in Moraga, with the Lions defeating the Gaels in four tightly contested sets. Since that point, the Lions have won three of their last four, and have moved into a tie for first place in the WCC at 13-4 and 5-1 in conference play. Head Coach Trent Kersten led LMU to their best WCC finish since 1996 last season, and now will look to lead his team to their first conference title since 1996 this season. LMU continues to be the best blocking team in the WCC, averaging 2.54 blocks per set, and holding opponents to a 0.185 hitting percentage. That said, the Gaels hit 0.241 against LMU in their last meeting, the highest opposing hitting percentage of WCC foe for the Lions, and were one of only two WCC schools to out-block the Lions in a match, 13-10. In their meeting in Moraga earlier this season, the Lions were led by their pin hitters, as Paige Flickinger, Sophia Meyers and Olivia Toland all reached double-digit kills, with Flickinger leading the charger with 17, while hitting at 0.333. Sam Hastings had 17 digs, while the Lions went for nine service aces. The Lions lead the all-time series over the Gaels 52-22. Saint Mary's will look for their first win at Gersten Pavilion since November of 2021. 

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