MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's (9-16, 5-11 WCC) will look to send off their seniors with a couple of wins, as the Gaels will host Portland (12-14, 5-11 WCC) on senior day, then will head south to San Diego (17-9, 12-4 WCC), looking to end the season with a road upset. While the record has been less than stellar for the Gaels this season, a couple of SMC victories to close out the season would finish things out with good momentum, in the form of six wins in their final nine matches.
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's Gaels vs. Portland Pilots
Wednesday, November 27 at 1 PM
UCU Pavilion – Moraga, Calif.
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Saint Mary's Gaels at San Diego Toreros
Saturday, November 30 at 11 AM
Jenny Craig Pavilion – San Diego, Calif.
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BANE HOPES TO KEEP IT GOING
Genevieve Bane has been the driving force behind the Saint Mary's offense all season long. The redshirt junior out of Danville is riding a seven game double-digit kills streak, the longest since Lindsey Calvin went for eight in a row in the 2018 season. Bane will not only have a chance to tie Calvin's eight in a row this week, but also to surpass it, giving her the longest double-digit kill streak since Natalie Loos went for nine in a row in 2014. Bane is also 10 kills away from 800 for her career, making her the first Gael to reach that mark since Lindsey Knudsen '19.
SENIOR SALUTE
The Gaels will have a pair of seniors celebrated in their final home matchup on Wednesday vs Portland, as
Hannah Taylor and
Clarissa Klein will both be playing their final matches in front of a home crowd inside UCU Pavilion. After transferring from Feather River College a year ago,
Hannah Taylor has been one of Saint Mary's Volleyball's most dominant and efficient attackers. The Yuba City Native has tallied 483 kills over the past two seasons, the second most amongst active Gaels in that time, hitting at 0.220, the best of any Gael pin hitter over the past two years. Taylor is also the Gaels active leader in blocks, with 128 in her career. She set a career-high with 18 kills in her senior season opener against Arkansas. A College Sports Communicators Academic All-District selectee, Taylor will graduate with a degree in health science. A fourth year Gael,
Clarissa Klein missed her first two seasons, but has been an every set hitter over the last two seasons. The Sherwood, Oregon native has tallied 206 kills this season, 50 more than her tally from her first season of action a year ago. Her 363 total kills rank her third amongst active Gaels, while her 127 blocks rank her second, only one behind Taylor. Klein set a career high with 18 kills for the Gaels against Washington State earlier this year. A WCC honorable mention All-Academic honoree, Klein will graduate with a degree in Entrepreneurship.
ABOUT THE PILOTS
The Portland Pilots will be the Gaels senior day opponent. The Pilots currently sit at 12-14, and could finish with a 0.500 record with wins over the Gaels and Pacific this week. Portland has not finished at or above 0.500 since 2018, a year before current Head Coach and Saint Mary's alumna Megan Burton took the reigns of the program. In WCC play, Portland sits at 5-11, the same record as the Gaels, but holds the tie-breaker thanks to a win over SMC at the Chiles Center in late September. Despite the less than stellar conference record, the Pilots boast one of the best young players in the WCC in the form of sophomore middle blocker Taina Kaauwai. The Hilo native leads the conference with a 0.398 hitting percentage, 170 point jump from her freshman campaign, all while being used more frequently this year. Kaauwai has also accounted for more than half of the Pilots 215 blocks this season. Portland made quick work of the Gaels in the conference opener way back on September 26, sweeping SMC, led by 13 kills from Maui Robbins. It was just Portland's 27th win in 75 meetings historically with the Gaels.
ABOUT THE TOREROS
San Diego is hanging onto WCC Title hopes by a thread, after a costly five set loss to San Francisco. The Toreros trail conference front runner LMU by two games with two games to go and will take on Pepperdine on Wednesday, with a chance to end the Waves hopes of repeating as WCC Champs, and will need LMU to lose twice to Oregon State and Washington State to be considered for a share of the conference title. Legendary Head Coach Jennifer Petrie is in year 26 at the helm, and has already guaranteed a continuance her streak of 26 consecutive seasons with a 0.500 record or better, as USD sits at 17-9 with two games to go. Led by their terrific senior middle blockers Haylee Stoner and Kristen Erland, the Toreros lead the WCC in hitting percentage, opponents hitting percentage and blocks per set. They've also had big performances this season by their libero Madi Allen and setter Kylie Munday, who lead the conference in digs per set and assists per set respectively. Against the Gaels in Moraga on 10/26, all four of those players were on display in the sweep victory for San Diego, as Erland and Stoner both hit over 0.350 and each had four blocks (Erland hit at 0.714 against her former squad), Munday had 27 assists and five kills on six attempts, and Allen led the team with 14 digs and a pair of aces. The Gaels are just 14-63 all-time vs USD, and have not won at Jenny Craig Pavilion since 2018.
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