MORAGA, Calif. — Gaels fans got a sneak peak of the 2025 Saint Mary's Volleyball squad on Saturday evening, as UCU Pavilion played host to SMC and the CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners in a preseason exhibition. The match marked the unofficial debut of Coach Tyler Hildebrand on the sidelines for Saint Mary's, whose season opener will take place in a little under two weeks in North Dakota. The Gaels got exactly what they wanted out of the exhibition, a chance to see 18 of their 22 players compete in five sets with the Roadrunners, allowing for many of these student-athletes to don a Gaels uniform for the first time, and show their abilities in front of a home crowd.
The Gaels jumped out to a commanding 9-1 lead in set one, riding that momentum all the way to an eventual 25-16 victory. While there was much buzz around the many newcomers joining the Gaels squad, it was a returner, sophomore middle blocker Tessa Schouten, who stole the show in set one. The Davis, California native connected for five kills on six swings, and, paired with fellow middle blocker Anaya Thrower, helped the Gaels middles to a 0.778 hitting clip in set one. Other set one standouts included true freshman setter Ivona Lazovic, who assisted on all 14 Gael kills, not leaving the court in the first frame, and libero Alayna Pearson, who led the team with three digs, and also accounted for four points on service aces in the opening stanza.
As good as the Gaels were in set one, they were down-right dominant in set two. While Bakersfield was able to hang tight, clawing to within one midway through the set at 14-13, the Gaels would go onto score 11 of the final 12 points of the set to take it, 25-14. While Tessa Schouten stayed red hot in the second set, with two more kills on two swings, it was ol' reliable, returning all-conference outside hitter Genevieve Bane, who led the charge with four kills on eight swings and just one miscue. As if the offense wasn't good enough, the Gaels defensive prowess was also on display, as Anaya Thrower got her hands on three of the four Saint Mary's blocks in set two, while Ivona Lazovic rejected two Roadrunner attack attempts, and had a team high five digs in the set. The Gaels hit 0.321 in the second frame, while limited CSUB to a -0.217 attack percentage.
Without a doubt the most tightly contested set of the match, set three featured nine ties and three lead changes, and needed bonus volleyball to decide what would eventually be a 27-25 scoreline in favor of Bakersfield. It certainly didn't seem as though that would be the case throughout a majority of the set, as the Gaels built a 20-15 lead, before the Roadrunners stormed back to the tune of a 6-0 run to take the lead. The Gaels were pushed to the precipice, as Bakersfield held the momentum, eventually service for set point at 24-21, but the Gaels battled valiantly to knot things up at 24 apiece. The Roadrunners would refind their footing however, and take the third set 27-25. In her first action of the evening, Gracie Vohs was the Gaels unsung leader in set three, with four kills on five swings and just one error.
The Gaels brought on wholesale changes in sets four and five, giving a few more new faces chances to demonstrate their abilities. The Gaels never led in either of the final two sets forcing four ties, but dropping the two, 25-18 and 15-8. Madi Zorn and Katherine Gee shined in set four, with the former tallying seven assists and three digs, and the latter going for a team high five digs. In the fifth set, Anna Hanson connected with both of the balls that were set her way in the only set she appeared in, finishing her evening with a 1.000 hitting percentage.
Genevieve Bane was the only Gael in double figures, going for 13 kills to go along with a pair of blocks in the first three sets. Not far behind was Tessa Schouten, who finished up with nine on just 12 swings and two errors for a stellar 0.583 clip, also appearing in just the first three. Ivona Lazovic went for 30 assists and eight digs, while Alayna Pearson totalled five aces and eight digs. The only player to amass more digs than Lazovic or Pearson was Katherine Gee, who appeared in the first two sets as a defensive specialist, and dressed as the libero in set four. Anaya Thrower was stellar at the net for the Gaels, getting her mitts on six of the 10 Saint Mary's blocks.
ACCURACY AND PRECISION…
…these two attributes differentiate a good volleyball player on the attack from a great one, and tonight, Tessa Schouten's ability to demonstrate these two attributes made her deadly. The sophomore middle blocker hit at 0.583, connecting on nine of 12 swings with just two errors. Schouten is no stranger to gaudy hitting numbers, as last season, she led the Gaels with a 0.304 clip for the year, which qualifies her as the fifth best hitter in program history entering 2025, although just a freshman.
RIDICULOUS RECEIVING
The Gaels allowed just three service aces in the five set match, tallying a 0.956 serve reception percentage. Abby Castillon was a perfect 22 of 22 on serve receive over the final two sets, while Katherine Gee, Alayna Pearson, Natalie Peete and Genevieve Bane combined to go 27 for 27 on their serve receive attempts. A season ago, the Gaels recorded three of fewer serve reception errors five times in 27 matches, with only one of those happening in a five set match.
A "SERBIAN ARMY KNIFE"
Freshman setter Ivona Lazovic did a little bit of everything in tonight's contest in her three sets of action. The Cacak, Serbia native recorded 30 digs, averaging 10 per set, which was expected of her in the Gaels 5-1 rotation. That said, she also went above and beyond the job description of setter, finishing second on the team with both eight digs and three blocks, and also connected on a sweet dump kill in the third set. Just a freshman, Lazovic has already demonstrated her veteran abilities, most likely due to her play in one of the top European volleyball nations, her home country of Serbia.
COACH'S CORNER
UP NEXT
The Gaels season officially opens on August 29 as the Gaels will head to Grand Forks, North Dakota to take on the University of North Dakota. First serve is set for 4 PM PST.
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