MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's Beach Volleyball (10-9) has already seen four of their WCC foes in the early goings, but will get a chance to see those teams again as well as the rest of the conference in Santa Cruz this weekend at the WCC Challenge event. 

This will be the second time this week that the Gaels will be in action, after taking part in a three team event hosted by Stanford this past Monday. The Gaels were swept by the third ranked Cardinal, before dropping a 3-2 nailbiter to San Francisco. Against the Dons, the Gaels picked up wins from their one pairing of Hawley Harrer and Hannah Couch, as well as from their five pairing of Paola Peralta and Chloe Swanson. Harrer and Couch moved up from the two spot to the ones a week ago, and are 3-1 in that spot. Swanson has moved into the five spot with Peralta, filling in for an injured Nya Crump, and that pairing is also 3-1 over their past four matches. 

The Gaels open up the tournament with a rematch against the Dons. This will be their third meeting with USF in the past six days. The Dons are off to a 5-10 start on the young season, picking up signature wins over UTEP, San Jose State and Saint Mary's, all in 3-2 fashion. Head Coach Diogo Silva continues to see the program improve under his tutelage. The pairing for the Dons who have given the Gaels the toughest time have been the four pairing of Rainie Stevens and Rylie Reeves in the four flight. That duo has yet to fall to the Gaels this season. 

Depending on the result of their San Francisco tilt, the Gaels will take on either Pacific or LMU in their second matchup of Friday. The Gaels defeated the Pacific Tiger 5-0 last Saturday. Pacific is still looking for their first win under Head Coach Tiger Shelton, currently sitting at 0-14. Against the Gaels, the two pairing of Josephine Kinlan and Ashley Davies forced a third set, the only Tiger pairing to take a set against the Gaels. The Gaels have not seen LMU this season, and the Lions find themselves ranked ninth in the country as the favorites to win the WCC. LMU sits at 13-8 and has only lost to other nationally ranked programs this season. Their key wins include victories over ninth ranked Hawaii and second ranked UCLA. LMU has won three of the first five WCC Pair of the Week honors, led by Anna Pelloia and Jacinda Ramirez, who have won the award twice. 

If the Gaels win their first match over San Francisco, they will guarantee themselves a spot in the Gold Bracket on Saturday, to determine the top four finishers in the tournament. If they lose to USF, they will play in the Silver Bracket to determine spots 5,6,7 in the tournament. 

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