MORAGA, Calif. - The Saint Mary's beach volleyball team held their conference opener Friday afternoon hosting Pacific and Santa Clara. The Gaels looked to end a seven-match skid dating back to March 7th and also add to their 1-0 WCC record after taking down San Francisco 3-2 back on March 6th. They were able to do that and more, sweeping the Tigers and Broncos to end their skid and improve to 3-0 in conference play. The Gaels dominated Pacific (1-7) with a 5-0 victory in the first match of the day and concluded the evening with a 4-1 win over Santa Clara (7-10).  

Allie Cataldo/Hannah Couch and Nya Crump/Angie Bour were undefeated on the day with Cataldo and Couch anchoring the top spot for the Gaels. The duo took down the number one pair for Pacific 21-9 21-17. Crump and Bour won convincingly, 21-13 21-11, while Nicholls and Travis had the team's largest margin of victory in a set with a 21-7 opening set victory.   

Saint Mary's turned right around and defeated Santa Clara 4-1 with wins from their bottom three pairs and top pair Cataldo/Couch. Head coach Janice Harrer made some changes for the team's second match of the day. Hannah Glick moved up to the four pairing with Sedona Sherman and took down Teagan Wilson/Callie Loughran (SCU) 21-13 21-16. Grace Travis took her spot in the five pairing but her and teammate Genevieve Bane won comfortably, defeating Ava Stoddard/Sveva Munneke (SCU) 21-11 21-18. 

Saint Mary's will compete in the WCC Midseason Tournament in Santa Cruz starting on Friday, March 28th. Full match information and results for the two-day event can be found at smcgaels.com. 

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