MORAGA, Calif. — After a 0.500 opening weekend of the season, Saint Mary's Beach Volleyball (2-2) will head across the bay to Stanford and San Jose to take part in the co-hosted Battle of the Bay Tournament. Opening things on Friday at Stanford, the Gaels will take on Sacramento State (1-2) and the fifth ranked host Cardinal (3-3), before heading to Spartan Beach on Saturday to take on SJSU (0-4) and UC Davis (3-1).
The Gaels knocked off 2024 AVCA Small School third place finisher Colorado Mesa twice last week, both by 3-2 scorelines, while falling to RV Arizona and 18th ranked Grand Canyon, 4-1 and 5-0. The Gaels #1 pair of Allie Cataldo and Hannah Couch went 3-1 on the weekend, while the #5 pair of Grace Travis and Delaney Nicholls went 2-2.
Sacramento State opened their season at the Corban Tournament in Salem, Oregon. The Hornets dropped a narrow 3-2 decision to Oregon in their opener, but responded with a 5-0 sweep of Gael WCC foe Portland. The tournament ended for Sac State with a 4-1 loss to host Corban, an NAIA Powerhouse Program. The 1, 2 and 3 pairs of the Hornets all went 2-1 on the weekend, led by the ones, Caitlin Volkmann and Bridgette Smith, who's only loss came with a 16-14 third set loss to Corban. All-time, the Gaels are 13-0 vs the Hornets, including two wins a year ago.
The fifth ranked Stanford Cardinal went 3-3 in their opening weekend in Hawaii, all against ranked opponents. Their signature win came in 3-2 fashion over top ranked USC. At the threes, Kelly Belardi and Avery Jackson, went 5-1, with their only loss coming at the hands of UCLA's third ranked #3 pair in three sets. The Gaels are 8-15 vs the Cardinal in program history, and have lost 11 in a row dating back to 2020.
San Jose State is winless to open their season, going 0-4, with losses to Utah (twice), Santa Clara and UC Davis, all in Davis. Throughout their opening weekend, the Spartans were outscored 15-5, but did have the bright spot of five pair Kylee Moore and Jaena Bell going 3-1. Saint Mary's holds a 12-4 all-time record vs the Spartans, but is just 3-4 over the last three seasons.
UC Davis is off to a strong 3-1 start, defeating Santa Clara twice, and Santa Clara, while falling to Utah in their opening homestand weekend. All three of the Aggies victories went down to the wire, at 3-2, while their loss to Utah finished at 4-1. Going undefeated on opening weekend was the three pair of Alexandra Leal and Kate O'Steen. A relatively new regional rival, the Gaels and Aggies have split their six meetings.
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