Photo by: SMC Athletics / Piper Westrom
VB | Gaels Release Full 2025 Schedule
7/28/2025 3:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
MORAGA, Calif. — The Tyler Hildebrand era of Saint Mary's Volleyball inches closer and closer, with the program's exhibition scheduled for August 16, and their season opener on August 29. The slate will feature some top competition for the Gaels in non-conference play, featuring three early season tournaments and a two day trip to Oklahoma. This should gear the Gaels up to full strength by the time of their conference opener on September 25. Here's a breakdown of the 2025 Saint Mary's Volleyball Schedule.
HOME FOR THE ROADRUNNERS
The Gaels lone non-conference foe to come to UCU Pavilion will be the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners, who will make their way to Moraga for an exhibition clash on August 16. This will be fans first chance to get a look at Coach Hildebrand's Gaels, and admission will be free to the public for the match slated to start at 5:30 PM.
A TRIO OF TOURNAMENTS
The Gaels will take part in the NDSU/UND Tournament (Aug. 29 - 31) split between Grand Forks and Fargo, North Dakota, the Baylor Classic (Sep. 5 - 6) in Waco, Texas, and the SLO Classic (Sep. 18 - 20) in San Luis Obispo, California. The season opens in Grand Forks on August 29, when the Gaels take on one of their two tournament hosts, the North Dakota Fighting Hawks on August 29 at 4 PM PST. It will be a quick turnaround for Saint Mary's, who will get a 25 win Bowling Green team from a year ago just 17 hours later at 9 AM PST, before making the trek 80 miles south to Fargo. There, they will finish off the tournament with the Bison of North Dakota State at 9 AM PST on August 31.
A week later, the Gaels will find themselves in Waco, Texas, as competitors in the Baylor Classic. The two day tournament will see the Gaels open with Northwestern on September 5 at 12:30 PM PST, their first Power Four opponent of the Fall. That evening, the Gaels will get their second P-4 opponent, host Baylor at 5 PM PST, a team that made the second round of the NCAA Tournament a year ago. Saint Mary's will close their Texas trip with another Lone Star opponent, the Owls of Rice, finishing things up on September 6 at 12 PM PST.
Saint Mary's final non-conference tournament of the Fall will be their closest to home, heading to San Luis Obispo for the SLO Classic for the third straight year. Opening up against the host Mustangs at 6 PM on September 18, the Gaels will look to exact revenge after falling to their host each of the last two seasons in this tournament. Saint Mary's will then get Cal Baptist on September 19 at 1:30 PM, before closing out with their final NCAA Tournament foe from a year ago, Utah, at 11 AM on September 20.
STORMIN' INTO NORMAN
On September 12 and 13, the Gaels will spend a pair of days in Norman, Oklahoma, taking on the Sooners for a pair of 4 PM PST matches. Like Baylor and Utah, Oklahoma made it to the second round of last year's NCAA Tournament. This will be the first all-time meeting between the Gaels and Sooners.
PUTTING THE "W" IN WCC
The Gaels will quest for their first WCC Title since 2009 in a conference that will have a gaudy 12 teams with the addition of Seattle University. The Gaels are coming off of a ninth place finish in WCC play a year ago, but have finished in the top five in the conference in four of the last seven seasons. Saint Mary's will open conference play with a roadtrip to Oregon, taking on Oregon State (Sep. 25, 6 PM) and Portland (Sep. 27, 1 PM). The month of October will kick off with the Gaels home opener against conference co-runner up San Diego (Oct. 2, 6:30 PM), followed two days later with a meeting against defending conference champs LMU (Oct. 4, 1 PM). The Gaels will ride a three game winning streak against Pacific into Stockton (Oct. 9, TBA) before coming home for a Saturday night marquee showdown with rival Santa Clara (Oct. 11, 5 PM). After seven days off, the Gaels will head to Spokane to take on Gonzaga, (Oct. 18, 12 PM) now under first year head coach JT Wenger. The Pacific Northwest duo of Seattle (Oct. 23, 6:30 PM) and Portland (Oct. 25, 2 PM) will make their way to UCU Pavilion, followed by another seven day break before the Gaels make the return trip to conference newcomer Seattle (Nov. 1). Oregon State will make their first trip to Moraga since 2003 (Nov. 6, 6:30 PM) followed by the Gaels trekking south to San Diego (Nov. 8, 12 PM). Saint Mary's will then get four straight games in the Bay Area, a road contest at San Francisco (Nov. 13, 6 PM), followed by three straight at home against Gonzaga (Nov. 15, 2 PM), Pacific (Nov. 20, 6:30 PM) and Washington State (Nov. 22, 2 PM). The matchup with the Cougars will be the Gaels Senior Day matchup. The final roadtrip of the season will feature defending WCC champs LMU (Nov. 26, 2 PM) and the Gaels only look at 2024 WCC co-runner ups Pepperdine (Nov. 29, 12 PM).
OVERALL OUTLOOK
The Gaels should be tested early and often in non-conference, seeing a trio of NCAA Tournament teams (Baylor, Oklahoma and Utah) and two other 20+ win teams (Bowling Green and Cal Poly). On top of this, the Gaels will play exclusively on the road from August 29 through September 20. This grueling non-con schedule should prepare the Gaels to make some noise in conference play. In the WCC slate, the Gaels will see two of the conference powerhouses (San Diego and LMU) at home in week two of conference play, and will see a pair more (LMU and Pepperdine) in the final week of the season, a good barometer for the team's growth through WCC play. The full schedule can be found here.
DON'T MISS OUT ON HOME VOLLEYBALL ACTION. TICKETS INFORMATION HERE.
#GaelsRise
HOME FOR THE ROADRUNNERS
The Gaels lone non-conference foe to come to UCU Pavilion will be the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners, who will make their way to Moraga for an exhibition clash on August 16. This will be fans first chance to get a look at Coach Hildebrand's Gaels, and admission will be free to the public for the match slated to start at 5:30 PM.
A TRIO OF TOURNAMENTS
The Gaels will take part in the NDSU/UND Tournament (Aug. 29 - 31) split between Grand Forks and Fargo, North Dakota, the Baylor Classic (Sep. 5 - 6) in Waco, Texas, and the SLO Classic (Sep. 18 - 20) in San Luis Obispo, California. The season opens in Grand Forks on August 29, when the Gaels take on one of their two tournament hosts, the North Dakota Fighting Hawks on August 29 at 4 PM PST. It will be a quick turnaround for Saint Mary's, who will get a 25 win Bowling Green team from a year ago just 17 hours later at 9 AM PST, before making the trek 80 miles south to Fargo. There, they will finish off the tournament with the Bison of North Dakota State at 9 AM PST on August 31.
A week later, the Gaels will find themselves in Waco, Texas, as competitors in the Baylor Classic. The two day tournament will see the Gaels open with Northwestern on September 5 at 12:30 PM PST, their first Power Four opponent of the Fall. That evening, the Gaels will get their second P-4 opponent, host Baylor at 5 PM PST, a team that made the second round of the NCAA Tournament a year ago. Saint Mary's will close their Texas trip with another Lone Star opponent, the Owls of Rice, finishing things up on September 6 at 12 PM PST.
Saint Mary's final non-conference tournament of the Fall will be their closest to home, heading to San Luis Obispo for the SLO Classic for the third straight year. Opening up against the host Mustangs at 6 PM on September 18, the Gaels will look to exact revenge after falling to their host each of the last two seasons in this tournament. Saint Mary's will then get Cal Baptist on September 19 at 1:30 PM, before closing out with their final NCAA Tournament foe from a year ago, Utah, at 11 AM on September 20.
STORMIN' INTO NORMAN
On September 12 and 13, the Gaels will spend a pair of days in Norman, Oklahoma, taking on the Sooners for a pair of 4 PM PST matches. Like Baylor and Utah, Oklahoma made it to the second round of last year's NCAA Tournament. This will be the first all-time meeting between the Gaels and Sooners.
PUTTING THE "W" IN WCC
The Gaels will quest for their first WCC Title since 2009 in a conference that will have a gaudy 12 teams with the addition of Seattle University. The Gaels are coming off of a ninth place finish in WCC play a year ago, but have finished in the top five in the conference in four of the last seven seasons. Saint Mary's will open conference play with a roadtrip to Oregon, taking on Oregon State (Sep. 25, 6 PM) and Portland (Sep. 27, 1 PM). The month of October will kick off with the Gaels home opener against conference co-runner up San Diego (Oct. 2, 6:30 PM), followed two days later with a meeting against defending conference champs LMU (Oct. 4, 1 PM). The Gaels will ride a three game winning streak against Pacific into Stockton (Oct. 9, TBA) before coming home for a Saturday night marquee showdown with rival Santa Clara (Oct. 11, 5 PM). After seven days off, the Gaels will head to Spokane to take on Gonzaga, (Oct. 18, 12 PM) now under first year head coach JT Wenger. The Pacific Northwest duo of Seattle (Oct. 23, 6:30 PM) and Portland (Oct. 25, 2 PM) will make their way to UCU Pavilion, followed by another seven day break before the Gaels make the return trip to conference newcomer Seattle (Nov. 1). Oregon State will make their first trip to Moraga since 2003 (Nov. 6, 6:30 PM) followed by the Gaels trekking south to San Diego (Nov. 8, 12 PM). Saint Mary's will then get four straight games in the Bay Area, a road contest at San Francisco (Nov. 13, 6 PM), followed by three straight at home against Gonzaga (Nov. 15, 2 PM), Pacific (Nov. 20, 6:30 PM) and Washington State (Nov. 22, 2 PM). The matchup with the Cougars will be the Gaels Senior Day matchup. The final roadtrip of the season will feature defending WCC champs LMU (Nov. 26, 2 PM) and the Gaels only look at 2024 WCC co-runner ups Pepperdine (Nov. 29, 12 PM).
OVERALL OUTLOOK
The Gaels should be tested early and often in non-conference, seeing a trio of NCAA Tournament teams (Baylor, Oklahoma and Utah) and two other 20+ win teams (Bowling Green and Cal Poly). On top of this, the Gaels will play exclusively on the road from August 29 through September 20. This grueling non-con schedule should prepare the Gaels to make some noise in conference play. In the WCC slate, the Gaels will see two of the conference powerhouses (San Diego and LMU) at home in week two of conference play, and will see a pair more (LMU and Pepperdine) in the final week of the season, a good barometer for the team's growth through WCC play. The full schedule can be found here.
DON'T MISS OUT ON HOME VOLLEYBALL ACTION. TICKETS INFORMATION HERE.
#GaelsRise
VB | Tyler Hildebrand Presser, 10-13-25
Monday, October 13
VB | Highlights vs. Santa Clara, 10-11-25
Saturday, October 11
VB | Tyler Hildebrand Presser Post Santa Clara, 10-11-25
Saturday, October 11
VB | Highlights at Pacific, 10-9-25
Thursday, October 09
