MORAGA, Calif. — The magic from Thursday night's five set thriller rolled on over to Saturday afternoon inside UCU Pavilion, as Saint Mary's (7-13, 3-8 WCC) needed every point both earned and gifted, to defeat the Santa Clara Broncos (7-13, 3-8 WCC) in five sets. After dropping their first three five setters on the year, the Gaels have now won two in the span of three days, making this the fifth consecutive season that the Gaels have won multiple five set matches.
Santa Clara was the early aggressor in this contest, hitting at 0.302 in the first frame, taking an early two point lead at 11-9 that they would never relinquish. The Gaels would twice chip away to cut the deficit to one, including at 19-18 on a Genevieve Bane kill, but ultimately fell 25-20. Despite dropping the first set, the Gaels hit at a respectable 0.263 clip, led by Bane, who tallied six kills on 12 swings and just one error. Strong defense was also on display for the first set for the Gaels in the form of Natalie Peete, who tallied 10 digs in the first set alone.
Saint Mary's seemed to stabilize early in the second set, moving up 8-3 in the early goings. Santa Clara showed excellent fortitude, however, eventually knotting things up at 19 apiece. The Gaels would take five of the next seven points, as a Clarissa Klein kill would put the Broncos' backs against the wall at 24-21. Four points later and the Broncos flipped the script, ahead 25-24 and serving for a commanding 2-0 lead. A pair of errors would stop the Broncos in their tracks before Genevieve Bane iced the set with a kill to tied things up at one set all. Bane went for five kills in set two, while Klein had four on seven swings and no errors.
Hailee Garcia helped the Gaels build a 4-0 lead from behind the service line in set three, notching an ace to go along with a kill and a block from Genevieve Bane early. Santa Clara responded with nine straight points to run away with the third set. While the Gaels still battled, they'd ultimately drop the third set 25-16. The Gaels recorded just four kills and three blocks in the set, with Bane recording half of the kills and getting her hands on two of the three roofs.
The Gaels returned the favor with a one sided fourth set of their own. In near mirror fashion, Santa Clara took a 4-1 lead in the fourth before a 5-0 run on the back of a Kaliko Kealoha service run to give Saint Mary's a lead that they would not relinquish, forcing a fifth with a 25-21 set four W. Again, it was Genevieve Bane who shined with half of the Gaels 12 kills in set number four.
Santa Clara threw the initial haymaker in set one, moving ahead 9-4, needing just six points to close things out. The Gaels responded to the tune of a 10-2 run. Santa Clara would make things interesting at 14-13, but their ninth error of the set and 39th error of the match proved to be the most costly one, giving the Gaels the victory in the five set thriller. Meanwhile, the Gaels committed just two attack errors in the second set. Bane did not have a kill in the final frame, but did get her hands on two more rejections.
Less than 48 hours after setting her career high of 19 kills against San Francisco, Genevieve Bane matched that number today against Santa Clara. This time, she accompanied her career-high total with a team-high two aces as well as five blocks and eight digs. Clarissa Klein joined Bane with double-digit kills, tallying 10. Hailee Garcia led the way with 23 assists and tied Bane with a team-high two aces, while Madi Zorn had 17 helpers and ten digs for her third double-double of the season, and second in as many matches. Natalie Peete led the way with a career-high 23 digs defensively on the back row, while Tessa Schouten notched a career-high seven blocks at the net.
DEJA VU FOR BANE
After tallying 19 kills (a new career-high) against San Francisco in a five set thriller Thursday night, Bane matched that total, again leading her team to a five set victory. The 38 kills in a single week are the most ever in her career. Bane also recorded eight digs in each match, and had five blocks, including two solo against Santa Clara, after recording two solos and one block assist against the Dons.
DOMINANT DEFENSE (AGAIN!)
For the third time this season, the Gaels recorded a season-best 13 blocks AND surpassed 60 digs in the same match. The Gaels first did this in a five set heart-breaker against Cal, but followed that up by doing it in back to back matches against San Francisco and Santa Clara. Natalie Peete set a new career-high with 23 digs, while Madi Zorn tied hers with 10. At the net, Tessa Schouten set a new career-high, getting her hands on seven of the Gaels 13 blocks, while Genevieve Bane got her hands on five, one shy of her career-best. Saint Mary's hit at just 0.160 for the match, and were out-killed by Santa Clara 73-47, but it was their defense that earned them the hard fought victory.
QUOTABLE
"We're feeling really good. Today's victory was definitely a team effort. We're just looking forward to keeping it rolling into our next game, and hopefully enjoying more time in the win column!" – Redshirt Freshman Libero Natalie Peete
"We picked up another GRITTY win today. Santa Clara is a solid, well-balanced team, and they brought everything today. There were moments when it wasn't looking good for us, but our team has shown that they are tough and resilient. Today was no exception, and it resulted in a great win for the Gaels!" – Head Coach Rob Browning
UP NEXT
The Gaels will head out on their longest road trip of the season, as they'll head to Eastern Washington, first to take on Gonzaga before heading to Washington State. Gonzaga and the Gaels will square off on November 7 with a scheduled 6 PM first serve.
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