MORAGA, Calif. — After venturing to the likes of North Dakota, Texas and Oklahoma, Saint Mary's will get a chance to play a little closer to home, heading just south in their home state of California to take part in the SLO Classic, hosted by Cal Poly. There, the Gaels will get a matchup with the host Mustangs, followed by neutral site contests against Cal Baptist and #20 Utah in their final tune ups before diving into WCC play.
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's Gaels at Cal Poly Mustangs
Thursday, September 18 at 6:00 PM
Mott Athletics Center – San Luis Obispo, Calif.
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LIVE STATS
Saint Mary's Gaels vs. Cal Baptist Lancers
Friday, September 19 at 1:30 PM
Mott Athletics Center – San Luis Obispo, Calif.
LIVE STATS
Saint Mary's Gaels vs. #20 Utah Utes
Saturday, September 20 at 11:00 AM
Mott Athletics Center – San Luis Obispo, Calif.
LIVE STATS
DAZZLING DEFENSE
The Gaels backrow defense was on display in their two contests vs Oklahoma last week. In match one, the spotlight was on junior libero
Alayna Pearson. The Overland Park, Kansas native accounted for 26 of the Gaels 40 digs in the four set match, including 10 in their set two win. The 26 digs ranked fifth most in a four set match in Saint Mary's program history. Pearson was also a perfect 12-12 on serve receptions, helping the Gaels to a then season-low three reception errors. That season-low lasted all of about 24 hours, as a night later, the Gaels went a perfect 64-64 on serve receptions, marking just their fourth game in the last decade without allowing an ace. Pearson led the charge again, going 18-18, bringing her week total to 30-30.
Mya Allen actually led the Gaels in serve receptions going 37-37,
Natalie Peete went 32-32,
Clarissa Klein was 22-22, and
Genevieve Bane went 18-18.
DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE OFFENSE
The Gaels also had their best two game stretch offensively for the season, hitting 0.267 in their two matches against the Sooners. Their previous best over a two match stretch this season was 0.199 in their first two matches against North Dakota and Bowling Green. Leading the charge by volume were pin hitters Genevieve Bane and Mya Allen. Bane connected for 28 kills on 65 swings with 10 errors for 0.277 clip, while Allen tallied 24 of 56 swings with 11 errors for a 0.250 hitting percentage. Helping the cause for efficiency were middle blockers Tessa Schouten and Kaliko Kealoha, who combined for 15 kills on 32 swings and just three errors (0.375) and setter Ivona Lazovic, who was brilliant in the front row with nine kills on 10 attempts and just one error (0.800).
COACH'S CORNER
ABOUT THE MUSTANGS
A mid-major west coast powerhouse in recent years, Cal Poly is off to a 6-3 start in 2025, with two of their three losses coming to national powers in the forms of Minnesota and Oklahoma. Head Coach Caroline Walters is coming off of a career-best 22-9 season, and is hoping to build off of that, and lead the Mustangs to back-to-back Big West Titles for the first time in her tenure. While Cal Poly did lose all three of their excellent starting pin hitters from a season ago, the offense has continued to operate at a high efficiency, most likely due to returning two time All-Big West setter Emme Bullis. Bullis has already surpassed 3000 assists for her career, and is on pace to finish in the top-five in program history. This meeting will represent the 17th all-time meeting between the Gaels and Mustangs. The two have squared off each of the last two seasons, with Cal Poly winning both of those meetings, in five sets in 2023 and in three in 2024.
ABOUT THE LANCERS
Winners of three of their last four, Cal Baptist comes into the SLO Classic with some momentum, now under the direction of first year head coach Trevor Johnson. Coach Johnson came to CBU by way of Liberty, where he enjoyed back-to-back winning seasons in 2022 and 2023, and is a Cal Baptist alum himself. Off to a 4-5 start overall, Coach Johnson has had a good mix of returning talent and transfers contributing early on in his tenure. Redshirt sophomore Emery DeJong has done most of the heavy lifting for CBU, with 120 kills already in her first nine matches of 2025, recording double digit kills in seven of those eight, including a 16 kill, 14 dig double-double last weekend vs New Mexico. This meeting will be just the second all-time between the Gaels and Lancers, with the Gaels winning the first meeting in 2018 in four sets.
ABOUT THE UTES
The 20th ranked team in the country in the latest polls, Utah enters the weekend with a 6-2 record, with their only two losses coming to 10th ranked Texas A&M and top ranked Nebraska. In 36 years of program history for the Utes, they have had one head coach, the legendary Beth Launiere, who is coming off of arguably the best season of her tenure, leading her team to a 25-6 record in their first year as members of the Big 12. With the 2025 squad built around returning stars Kamryn Gibadlo and Emrie Moea'i (Both 2024 AVCA All-Region Selections), it looks like the Utes may be bound for an even better season in year two in the Big 12. The Gaels are just 1-3 all-time vs the Utes, with that lone win coming in 2018 in a five set thriller in Salt Lake. They have not seen the Utes since 2019.
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