MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's Beach Volleyball (13-14) will look to close out the regular season with a trio of conference wins against Santa Clara (9-16), San Francisco (9-17) and Pacific (0-22) before heading into postseason play. The Gaels have beaten each of these teams at least once and will look to keep it rolling after their senior day sweep of Sacramento State last Saturday. 

The Gaels opened last week's contests in Boise, Idaho, taking on two programs in or near the top-25 rankings. First, against host Boise State, the Gaels fell in a narrow 3-2 decision. Sadie Shipman and Hawley Harrer marked a signature win in the two spot, handing Boise's two pair their first loss in 11 matches, while Paola Peralta and Chloe Swanson won the five pairings. In the afternoon against 17th ranked Arizona, the Gaels were swept, 5-0, but three different pairings (Harrer/Shipman, Peralta/Swanson and Angie Bour/Karmin Brown) forced third sets. The week was closed out in style at home, as the Gaels sent off their seniors with a 5-0 victory over Sacramento State. 

Santa Clara and Saint Mary's will meet up for a third time this season on Wednesday in Santa Clara. The Gaels defeated the Broncos 4-1 in a pair of neutral site matches in Berkeley and Santa Cruz. Head Coach Jeff Alzina is in his second season at the helm of the Broncos program, and has his team playing at its peak potential now, winning four of their last five. The duos of Katie Kishton/Elena Radeff in the one spot, and Alexie Epstein/Alexandra Urbina playing in either the four or five spot, have been the standouts this season, with both pairs winning a team high 12 matches this season. All-time, the Gaels are 24-5 against the Broncos. 

Pacific is still looking for win number one of the season, currently sitting at 0-22 under the first year direction of Head Coach Tiger Shelton. In fact, the Tigers have not won a match since April 19, 2022. The Gaels swept the Tigers at home in their last meeting. Pacific has won just six points all season, with half of those coming from Josephine Kinlan and Ashley Davies at the twos. The Gaels are 20-3 all-time vs the Tigers.

San Francisco will likely be the toughest competition for the Gaels when they take the sand for a two match day in Stockton on Saturday. The Dons and Gaels have matched up three times this season, with the Dons taking the middle of the three. They will look to draw level in the season series with a win Saturday. San Francisco has enjoyed its best season under the direction of now third year Head Coach Diogo Silva, tallying 9+ wins for the first time since 2019. Heading into this week, the Dons have three pairings with 10+ wins, Jette Morris/McKenna Towne (12-13), Branson Lennon/Kaydence Stormes (11-7) and Rylie Reeves/Rainie Stevens (10-6). This season, the Gaels have not been able to defeat the duo of Reeves/Stevens, as they are 3-0 against SMC. The Gaels are 27-3 all-time vs the Dons. 

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