MORAGA, Calif. — After picking up a pair of conference wins in their home opener against Pacific and Santa Clara, the Gaels (9-10) now will get a look at the rest of the conference this weekend at the West Coast Mid-Season Challenge in Santa Cruz. This event will feature a look at all six other WCC Beach Volleyball programs, including #3 LMU (20-2), RV Pepperdine (8-7), Santa Clara (7-10), San Francisco (6-14), Portland (2-4) and Pacific (1-9). Scheduled pool play for the tournament will begin tomorrow, with the Gaels taking on Portland at noon and Pepperdine at 2 PM. Tournament bracket play will open up on Friday. If the Gaels finish with one of the top two records in their poll (Portland and Pepperdine), they will move onto the gold bracket that will also feature the top two teams from the other pool (LMU, Santa Clara, San Francisco and Pacific). If they finish third in their pool, they will play in the silver bracket.
The Gaels ended a tough seven game skid at home last weekend, as they hosted Pacific and Santa Clara. Saint Mary's outscored their two conference foes 9-1, and had a chance to tool with their lineups a bit in preparation for this upcoming tournament. The lone true constant for the Gaels, Hannah Couch and Allie Cataldo, won both of their matches at the ones, moving to a 13-6 record together this season. Reunited for the first time since the early season, Nya Crump and Angelina Bour also went 2-0 paired together for the weekend. Crump and Bour played in the two spot against Pacific and the threes against Santa Clara in their wins. Hannah Glick went 2-0 on the weekend, playing one match with Sedona Sherman and one with Genevieve Bane. Sherman and Bane also went 2-0 for the week, with Sherman playing her other match with Chloe Swanson and Bane pairing up with Grace Travis for her second win. Last but certainly not least Travis paired up with Delaney Nicholls for her second win of the weekend. A look at the season results show that just behind Cataldo and Couch, each with 13 wins for the year, sits Travis with nine, followed by Bane and Bour both with eight.
Often considered the top dogs in the WCC, LMU checks in at #3 in the country with a 20-2 record. The 20-2 start ties their best ever start to a season, set back in 2021, and with one more win to open this weekend, will be the stand alone best start in program history. 10th year Head Coach John Mayer has led the Lions to five straight WCC Titles, and hopes to be well on his way to number six in a row. Led by their four pairing of senior Isabelle Reffel and sophomore Magdalena Rabitsch, who have amassed an 18-2 record playing together, the Lions have lost just two matches this season to tenth ranked Texas and third ranked UCLA, and have ranked wins over Stanford, USC, Hawaii, TCU, Arizona State, Washington, Cal Poly, Long Beach State, LSU, Texas, Florida International, Florida State and Georgia State. The Gaels are just 2-12 all-time vs LMU, and have not defeated the Lions since 2017.
Sitting at 8-7, Pepperdine got off to a slower start than usual, but currently have won seven of their last eight after a 1-6 start. Marcio Sicoli is in his seventh season at the helm of the Waves, and continues to see his team challenge LMU for the top spot in the conference. At the one spot, Kate Clermont and McKenna Thomas have paced the Waves with a 9-6 record, the only duo that has played in every match this season for Pepperdine. This is the third straight season that this pair of seniors have played together. The Gaels are 2-15 all-time against the Waves, but defeated them in this very tournament two seasons ago.
Their rival from the South Bay, the Gaels defeated Santa Clara last week, and could have another chance to see them again this weekend in Santa Cruz. Now at 7-10 for the season, the Broncos are led by Jeff Alzina in his sixth season. Coach Alzina spent part of his last summer in Paris, coaching a pair of Olympians on the men's side. The Gaels defeated the Broncos 4-1 earlier this week, with the two pairing of Noelle Niederman and Holland Jackson picking up the only win, moving to 3-2 together on the season. The win for Saint Mary's moved their winning streak against Santa Clara to five in a row, as they are 27-5 all-time vs the Broncos.
The Gaels squared off with the San Francisco Dons in Hawaii earlier this season at the Heineken Queen's Cup, with the Gaels reigning supreme by a narrow 3-2 scoreline. Head Coach Diogo Silva doubles as both the Head Indoor and Beach Coach on The Hilltop, as he has his Dons off to a 6-14 record this year. Sitting at 11-9 for the year, Kaydence Stormes and McKenna Towne have paced the Dons this year, including a win over the Gaels at the twos on Waikiki Beach. Saint Mary's is 29-3 all-time vs San Francisco, but did drop a tight one to them at Stanford last season. Each of their last four meetings have been decided by a 3-2 scoreline.
Portland has played just six matches this season, sitting at 2-4. As is also the case with San Francisco, the Pilots are helmed by Indoor Head Coach (and Saint Mary's alum) Megan Burton. The Pilots top pairing of Emily Wood and Annika Stammberger have combined to go 4-2 this season to lead Portland, split between the ones and twos. The Pilots are riding a two game winning streak, but haven't played since March 16. The Gaels have never lost to Portland in eight all time meetings.
After being swept by the Gaels and falling in back-to-back contests to San Francisco last week, Pacific checks in at 1-9 with their lone win coming against San Joaquin Delta College. Legendary San Jose State Beach Volleyball alum Jaida Ward took over the reigns of the Tiger program this year, and led Pacific to their first win since 2022 earlier this year. Juniors Josephine Kinlan and Kelea Saxton Vaka have notched two wins from the one spot for Pacific to lead the way. The Gaels are 22-3 all-time vs Pacific, including 19 straight wins.
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