PORTLAND — The Saint Mary's Gaels (4-6, 0-1 WCC) fell to the Portland Pilots (8-3, 1-0 WCC) for the first time since 2017. The Pilots played energized volleyball in front of their home fans for the first time in two weeks, taking early momentum, and outlasting every Saint Mary's run en route to the sweep.
Saint Mary's found themselves in an early hole in set one, as an early 6-0 Pilot run put them ahead 14-5, a deficit that the Gaels would never be able to overcome, dropping the set 25-16. Despite the slow start, Abby Castillon came out of the gates hot with five first set kills on nine swings and no errors.
It was the Gaels who seized early momentum in set two, turning an 11-9 deficit to a 17-11 lead with an 8-0 run, sparked by three Abby Castillon kills. The Pilots weathered the storm however, with an impressive response, closing the set by taking 14 of the final 19 points along with a commanding two set lead. Castillon continued to do everything in her power to will the Gaels back into the match, with another five kills and five digs in the second frame.
The first 23 points of the final set were extremely back and forth, with Portland clinging to a narrow 12-11 lead. From that point, however, Portland traded two for ones to go up 16-13 before rattling off a 4-0 run to come within five points of closing out the sweep. The Gaels threw up a last ditch effort in the form of a 5-0 run featuring a pair of Genevieve Bane kills, cutting the deficit to two, but the Pilots closed things out, taking the set 25-20 and the match 3-0. Bane picked up where Castillon left off in sets one and two, with five kills of her own on eight swings and just one error, but the defense struggled, with just six digs in the final stanza.
Abby Castillon and Genevieve Bane each had 12 kills to lead the charge for the Gaels, both hitting over 0.290 for the match. Hailee Garcia accounted for 20 of the Gaels 35 assists in the match, and owned one of two service aces belonging to the Gaels, with Bane having the other. Castillon led the Gaels back row defensively with eight digs, while Tessa Schouten continued to be a driving force at the net with two total blocks.
CASTILLON STAYS HOT
Junior Abby Castillon has always been an excellent all-around player for the Gaels, demonstrating brilliance offensively, defensively and behind the service line. Over the last four matches, however, Abby has quickly shown her growth as an attacker, tallying 40 kills in that time, and hitting at 0.345 over that stretch. As strong as her offense has been, Castillon's defense continues to be a bright spot as well, with 38 digs and five blocks over her last four matches as well. With 84 kills already this season, Castillon is eight shy of breaking her single season career-high, set a year ago.
THE ACE STREAK CONTINUES
Genevieve Bane has now recorded a service ace in all 10 matches this season, bringing her season tally 17. Bane has 82 service aces in her career, 13 shy of cracking the top-10 in program history. Her 0.47 aces per set currently rank her best in a single season in program history.
CONTINUING TO SWING WELL
After hitting below 0.200 in each of their first three matches, the Gaels have now hit better than 0.230 in six of their last seven, including hitting at a 0.261 clip against Portland. The 0.261 hitting percentage was the highest for the Gaels in a loss this season. Kaliko Kealoha hit 0.500 for the Gaels tonight, with no errors for the second consecutive match, while Abby Castillon hit 0.400 and led the team with 12 kills.
UP NEXT
The Gaels return home Saturday to host LMU. First serve is set for 1 PM on 9/28.
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