GRAND FORKS, N.D. — The first match of the Tyler Hildebrand era at Saint Mary's goes down in the books as a victory, and a five set, come-from-behind thriller at that. The Gaels found themselves down 2-1 playing against an inspired North Dakota squad on their home court, but, unphased by the adversity, the Gaels grinded out wins in the final two sets to move to 1-0 on the season.
Playing in front of their home fans, North Dakota came out of the gates hot, building an early 5-2 lead. A kill by Genevieve Bane followed by back-to-back kills from Vivian Parker quickly ended that Fighting Hawk run. The Gaels took their first lead of the set at 7-6 on a UND attack error, and would not relinquish it down the stretch, outscoring their hosts 18-10 down the stretch to win the opening set of 2025, 25-16. Genevieve Bane led the offense with five kills on nine swings and just one error, helping her reach the 1000 point mark for her collegiate career. Bane also added a pair of service aces. In her first collegiate action, Ivona Lazovic racked up eight assists, not leaving the floor for the set, while newcomer Alayna Pearson led the team with five digs. Led by Pearson's stellar defense, the Gaels held UND to just a 0.037 hitting clip in set one.
In set two, it was the Fighting Hawks turn to erase an early deficit. The Gaels jumped ahead 9-5, on a pair of kills from Vivian Parker, before North Dakota ripped off a 10-2 run to swing the big mo back in their direction. Down 15-11, the Gaels never could re-find their footing in the second set, and ultimately dropped the frame 25-17. After being held silent in set one, Tessa Schouten got off the schneid with three kills and two blocks in the set. Ivona Lazovic added nine more assists and Alayna Pearson chipped in four more digs.
After a 5-2 start from UND in set three, the Gaels responded with nine straight points to pull ahead 11-5. The Fighting Hawks responded with a 6-1 run of their own to get back within one at 12-11. The Gaels were able to trade points and keep UND at an arms length until a block knotted the score up at 18 apiece. The Fighting Hawks took their first lead since 5-4 in the set at 20-19, and then won the dash to 25, 25-22 to bring themselves within a set of 1-0. Miley Thunstrom did a large chunk of heavy lifting for the offense in set three, with four kills. Her fellow freshman, Ivona Lazovic had nine more assists to add to the stat sheet, to go along with two blocks. Genevieve Bane reached and surpassed 100 aces for her career with two in the set, while Alayna Pearson dug out eight UND swings, the most of any in her career. Anaya Thrower also picked up her first two collegiate blocks in the frame.
The Gaels made a change at the setter position to start set four, with Madi Zorn getting the nod. The veteran out of Spokane helped the Gaels establish an early 8-5 lead and cruise to a 25-17 set four victory to send us into a decisive fifth set. Miley Thunstrom continued to play like a veteran despite being just a true freshman in her first collegiate action, tallying three more kills in the fourth. Madi Zorn distributed eight of the Gaels 10 assists in the set, while Clarissa Klein added her second service ace of the match, and was stellar defensively with seven digs.
Saint Mary's rode the momentum from set four straight through set five and onward to the 3-2 victory. The Gaels never trailed in the fifth, showing grit and fortitude in helping their head coach to his first win as a Gael. Saint Mary's hit at a 0.600 clip in the final decisive frame, with Bane and Thunstrom going a perfect four for four on swings at the pins. Madi Zorn added five assists and two aces, while Alayna Pearson capped her stellar night with three more digs for good measure.
No player had a bigger impact in this match for the Gaels than Clarissa Klein. The Sherwood, Oregon native, not only led the team with 14 kills, but also logged her first career multi-ace game, and her first career double-double, going for 11 digs. Joining Klein in double-digits for kills was fellow Gael veteran Genevieve Bane, who notched 13, while also adding a team-high four aces and three blocks. Bane needed just 2.5 points to reach 1000 for her career, and just three aces to reach 100, both of which she had checked off the to-do list by the second set. Splitting time at setter, Ivona Lazovic notched 26 assists and two blocks, while Madi Zorn chipped in 15 assists and two aces. The Gaels hit at 0.276 for the match, after hitting over 0.250 just once in a five set match last season.
THE 'OL RELIABLES
For long time followers of Gael volleyball, it should come as no surprise that the unsung leaders were their two all-conference recipients from a season ago, Genevieve Bane and Clarissa Klein. The dynamic duo combined for 27 of the Gaels 57 kills and six of their 10 service aces. Bane reached the 1000 point mark and the 100 ace mark for her career tonight, while Klein logged her first career double-double.
CAN'T TOUCH THIS
MC Hammer's early 90's hit was the theme song for the Gaels middle blockers tonight. The duo of Tessa Schouten and Anaya Thrower went for a combined 11 kills on 21 swings with the UND blocking front having little say in the matter. Neither Schouten nor Thrower recorded an attack error, neither unforced, nor blocked.
THE DEBUTANTS
Five Gaels made their collegiate debuts tonight, with Vivian Parker, Anaya Thrower and Ivona Lazovic earning starts, and Layne Dent and Miley Thunstrom coming off the bench. All five made contributions in the match. Parker tallied five kills and five digs in the first three sets. Thrower connected on four kills and three blocks. Lazovic had 26 assists in the first three sets to go along with three finesseful kills. Dent notched an ace for her first collegiate point. Arguably the biggest contributor from this group, however, was Miley Thunstrom, who, after missing the Gaels exhibition two weeks ago, went for nine kills and four digs over the final four sets of this one.
UP NEXT
The Gaels will have a quick turnaround, taking on Bowling Green at 9 AM PST tomorrow in Grand Forks.
