Saturday, November 15
Moraga, CA
2:00 PM
Saint Mary's College of California
9-16,7-7WCC
3
vs
0
Gonzaga
13-12,6-8WCC
1
2
3
F
Gonzaga
20
23
22
0
Saint Mary's (CA)
25
25
25
3
Genevieve Bane: 10 Kills, 2 Blocks
Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner
VB | Gaels Pick Up First Conference Sweep of the Year, Downing Gonzaga at Home
11/15/2025 6:01:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
MORAGA, Calif. — Oh how sweep it is! The Saint Mary's Gaels (9-16, 7-6 WCC) picked up their first sweep victory in almost two months, defeating the Gonzaga Bulldogs (13-12, 6-8 WCC) inside UCU Pavilion. With the win, the Gaels completed the season sweep of the Bulldogs, and surpassed their conference win total last year.
Both teams looked solid in the first set, with both hitting 0.300 or better throughout the set. The Gaels jumped out to an early 6-2 lead, Gonzaga drew level at 12 apiece midway through the frame. Knotted up at 18 apiece, the Gaels would rattle off seven of the final nine points to walk away with a 1-0 lead after hitting 0.303 in the opening frame. Tessa Schouten led the early charge for the Gaels with four kills on five swings, and three blocks.
Set two saw Gonzaga flip the script with a 6-2 start of their own before the Gaels scored five of the next six to level up at seven all. A kill and back-to-back aces from the Bulldogs would send the Gaels into a timeout, a timeout that would spark a 11-4 Gaels swing., pushing them ahead 18-14. Gonzaga would keep things tight to the very end of the set, but the Gaels were able to escape set two by a narrow 25-23 margin to go ahead 2-0. Saint Mary's struggled a bit more offensively in set two, with eight attack errors, but one player not bit by the error bug was Anaya Thrower, as the redshirt freshman connected on all three of her swings. The Gaels defense bottled up the Bulldogs well in set two, limiting them to a 0.062 hitting clip, due in large part to tremendous back row play from Alayna Pearson (6 digs) and Abby Castillon (5 digs).
Charged by the momentum of a 2-0 lead and the crowd behind them, the Gaels opened the third set on a 13-7 run. Gonzaga would claw all the way back to within one at 20-19, but never quite could get over the hump, as timely side out after timely side out would help Saint Mary's close out the match with a 25-22 set three victory. Freshman Miley Thunstrom shouldered the load in the final set for the Gaels with six kills on 10 swings and just one error en route to the victory.
Genevieve Bane and Miley Thunstrom each totalled 10 kills to lead the Gaels. Thunstrom added six digs, while Bane notched a pair of blocks, in two more well rounded performances from the senior and freshman respectively. Ivona Lazovic and Madi Zorn each finished their days with 17 assists, with Lazovic chipping in a team-high three aces to bring her season tally to 30. Both Gaels starting middle blockers, Tessa Schouten and Anaya Thrower shined in different ways. For Schouten, it was the volume and the blocking, as the sophomore converted 13 swings into eight kills, while coming up with six rejections. Thrower did it more with her efficiency, turning eight swings into seven kills without an error. The sweep victory was just the Gaels second this season, and their first in WCC play.
A MASTER OF EFFICIENCY
It was quite the week for Anaya Thrower, as the redshirt freshman logged a career-high for kills on Thursday night, followed by a career-high 0.875 hitting percentage today. For the week Thrower tallied 19 kills and hits at a 0.516 clip. Through the first 18 matches of her collegiate career, the Vacaville native is hitting a stellar 0.333 clip to lead the team (min. 50 kills).
SERVE GAME STRONG
Despite today's match only going three sets, the Gaels were able to rattle off eight aces for their second highest ace per set mark of the season. Ivona Lazovic led the way with three, while Abby Castillon added two. The Gaels were also crisp on curtailing service errors, with only five for the match. The +3 ace over error advantage was the best mark this season.
COACHES CORNER
UP NEXT
The Gaels will welcome Pacific to UCU Pavilion in the middle match of their final three game home stand. First serve on Thursday, November 20 is set for 6:30 PM.
DON'T MISS OUT ON HOME VOLLEYBALL ACTION. TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE HERE.
#GaelsRise
Both teams looked solid in the first set, with both hitting 0.300 or better throughout the set. The Gaels jumped out to an early 6-2 lead, Gonzaga drew level at 12 apiece midway through the frame. Knotted up at 18 apiece, the Gaels would rattle off seven of the final nine points to walk away with a 1-0 lead after hitting 0.303 in the opening frame. Tessa Schouten led the early charge for the Gaels with four kills on five swings, and three blocks.
Long rally goes the way of the Gaels as they look to close out Set 1 🙌#GaelsRise pic.twitter.com/qgRVwmXukP
— Saint Mary's Volleyball (@SMC_Volleyball) November 15, 2025
E1 | SMC 25 - GON 20
— Saint Mary's Volleyball (@SMC_Volleyball) November 15, 2025
That's a Set 1 victory for Saint Mary's!
Tessa Schouten closes it out with a kill as we head to the second set.#GaelsRise pic.twitter.com/czqUWfCMAv
Set two saw Gonzaga flip the script with a 6-2 start of their own before the Gaels scored five of the next six to level up at seven all. A kill and back-to-back aces from the Bulldogs would send the Gaels into a timeout, a timeout that would spark a 11-4 Gaels swing., pushing them ahead 18-14. Gonzaga would keep things tight to the very end of the set, but the Gaels were able to escape set two by a narrow 25-23 margin to go ahead 2-0. Saint Mary's struggled a bit more offensively in set two, with eight attack errors, but one player not bit by the error bug was Anaya Thrower, as the redshirt freshman connected on all three of her swings. The Gaels defense bottled up the Bulldogs well in set two, limiting them to a 0.062 hitting clip, due in large part to tremendous back row play from Alayna Pearson (6 digs) and Abby Castillon (5 digs).
Anaya Thrower THROWS IT DOWN ‼️#GaelsRise pic.twitter.com/kHigpheNz4
— Saint Mary's Volleyball (@SMC_Volleyball) November 15, 2025
Charged by the momentum of a 2-0 lead and the crowd behind them, the Gaels opened the third set on a 13-7 run. Gonzaga would claw all the way back to within one at 20-19, but never quite could get over the hump, as timely side out after timely side out would help Saint Mary's close out the match with a 25-22 set three victory. Freshman Miley Thunstrom shouldered the load in the final set for the Gaels with six kills on 10 swings and just one error en route to the victory.
FINAL | SMC 3 - GON 0
— Saint Mary's Volleyball (@SMC_Volleyball) November 15, 2025
Sweet, sweet sweep 🧹
Saint Mary's takes the victory over Gonzaga to improve to seven wins in conference!#GaelsRise pic.twitter.com/opKrIyjJ31
Genevieve Bane and Miley Thunstrom each totalled 10 kills to lead the Gaels. Thunstrom added six digs, while Bane notched a pair of blocks, in two more well rounded performances from the senior and freshman respectively. Ivona Lazovic and Madi Zorn each finished their days with 17 assists, with Lazovic chipping in a team-high three aces to bring her season tally to 30. Both Gaels starting middle blockers, Tessa Schouten and Anaya Thrower shined in different ways. For Schouten, it was the volume and the blocking, as the sophomore converted 13 swings into eight kills, while coming up with six rejections. Thrower did it more with her efficiency, turning eight swings into seven kills without an error. The sweep victory was just the Gaels second this season, and their first in WCC play.
A MASTER OF EFFICIENCY
It was quite the week for Anaya Thrower, as the redshirt freshman logged a career-high for kills on Thursday night, followed by a career-high 0.875 hitting percentage today. For the week Thrower tallied 19 kills and hits at a 0.516 clip. Through the first 18 matches of her collegiate career, the Vacaville native is hitting a stellar 0.333 clip to lead the team (min. 50 kills).
SERVE GAME STRONG
Despite today's match only going three sets, the Gaels were able to rattle off eight aces for their second highest ace per set mark of the season. Ivona Lazovic led the way with three, while Abby Castillon added two. The Gaels were also crisp on curtailing service errors, with only five for the match. The +3 ace over error advantage was the best mark this season.
COACHES CORNER
UP NEXT
The Gaels will welcome Pacific to UCU Pavilion in the middle match of their final three game home stand. First serve on Thursday, November 20 is set for 6:30 PM.
DON'T MISS OUT ON HOME VOLLEYBALL ACTION. TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE HERE.
#GaelsRise
Team Stats
Gonz
SMC
Kills
38
43
Errors
18
19
Attempts
112
106
Hitting %
.179
.226
Points
47.0
58.0
Assists
37
41
Aces
3
8
Blocks
6
7
Game Leaders
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
10
Aces
1
Blocks
0
Kills
8
Aces
1
Blocks
6
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's VolleyballS
/ Women's VolleyballL/DS
/ Women's VolleyballMB
/ Women's VolleyballMB
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's VolleyballVB | Tyler Hildebrand Presser Post Gonzaga, 11-15-25
Saturday, November 15
VB | Highlights vs. Gonzaga, 11-15-25
Saturday, November 15
VB | Highlights at San Francisco, 11-13-25
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VB | Tyler Hildebrand Presser, 11-11-25
Tuesday, November 11
