FULLERTON, Calif. — Saint Mary's Volleyball (1-4) cruised to their first victory of the season, sweeping the Oral Robert Golden Eagles (1-7) in the opening match of the 2024 Titan Invitational. The Gaels overmatched the Golden Eagles throughout the match, converting their swings at a high percentage, while handling attack after attack in the 3-0 victory. 

Saint Mary's dug themselves an early 7-3 hole in set one, but responded on a 12-4 run of their own to take a 15-11 lead. The lead ballooned to seven at 20-13, but the Golden Eagles battled to the bitter end. The Gaels weathered the storm, taking set one 25-23. Set two was quite the opposite, with SMC building an early 12-2 lead that they would never relinquish en route to a 25-19 victory. The decisive third set was the best showing for the Gaels all season. Saint Mary's connected on 16 of their 28 swings while committing just two errors (a 0.500 clip), easily taking the final set 25-8. 

Tessa Schouten led the attack for the Gaels with seven kills on eight swings and no errors. Hailee Garcia accounted for 18 of the Gaels 30 assists, while Madi Zorn added 10. Genevieve Bane and Katherine Gee each tallied a couple of service aces. Defensively, Natalie Peete earned her first collegiate start at libero, recording a career-high 10 digs, while Clarissa Klein continued to be a formidable force at the net, with five blocks, including one solo. 

SHARING THE WEALTH 
While no single Gael reached double digit kills in today's match, nine different Gaels recorded a kill, with five recording at least five. The setting duo of Hailee Garcia and Madi Zorn each recorded one, while Gracie Vohs recorded the first two kills of her collegiate career. Kaliko Kealoha put down four of her nine swings for kills. A trio of Gael pin hitters, Clarissa Klein, Abby Castillon and Genevieve Bane all tallied five kills, with Bane putting up an errorless game for the first time since last year's opener. At the top of the kills sheet were Hannah Taylor and Tessa Schouten, each with seven. Even more impressively, Taylor and Schouten combined for just one error on 27 combined swings. Not one Gael had 20 swings, as SMC demonstrated their outstanding depth amongst hitters. 

FIRST START, NO PROBLEM
Redshirt freshman Natalie Peete earned her first start at libero, and answered the bell to the tune of a career high 10 digs. The Gaels starting libero for the first three matches, Katherine Gee, still did make a major impact on the match, with six digs and two service aces coming off the bench as a defensive specialist. Peete and Gee entered the season neck and neck for the starting libero role, with Gee narrowly edging out Peete for the first four matches. Look for both of these outstanding back row players to continue to impact matches for the Gaels this season.  

QUOTABLE
"We had a good all-around performance today. It took us a little bit to find our rhythm, but once we did, we were able to execute well. Each match, we are doing a better job of executing at the level we need to in order to compete in the WCC. Over the past two matches, we've had a number of players put up really good numbers. We are going to continue hitting those benchmarks, do so more consistently." -- Head Coach Rob Browning

"It was great to get a win under our belt. We were able to push through some adversity and come out on top. Now on to Fullerton!" -- Libero Natalie Peete

UP NEXT
The Gaels will take on host Cal State Fullerton at 1:30 PM tomorrow in their final match at the Titan Invitational. 

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