CORVALLIS, Ore. — In tonight's contest against Oregon State (7-4), Saint Mary's (2-10) looked like two different teams. In sets one and two, the Gaels looked overmatched, with the Beavers cruising to a 2-0 lead, but after the sluggish start, SMC came to life in sets three and four, going point for point with OSU, winning the third, and leading midway through the fourth before ultimately falling in that eventual final set. This is the second time in as many meetings as WCC foes that the Gaels have fallen to the Beavers in four sets in Corvallis.
It was not a pretty start for the Gaels, who tallied just eight kills in the first set, while also recording eight attack errors to hit at a 0.000 clip. Oregon State opened the match with an ace and three kills, before the Gaels recorded their first side out, but 4-1 would be as close as they could get, dropping the opening frame of conference play 25-12. The one bright spot for the Gaels in set one was Genevieve Bane, who turned just six sets her direction into eight kills without an error.
A pair of Mya Allen kills helped the Gaels erase an early deficit in set two, knotting things up at six apiece, but again, Saint Mary's was denied their first lead in the match in the second, with the Beavs going on a 8-1 run and never looking back, taking the second set 25-17. The Gaels attack was a bit more effective, with 10 kills in set two, led by Mya Allen's three. The defense was better as well, increasing their total from five digs to 14 from set one to set two, due in big part to Genevieve Bane's four.
Mya Allen's kill to open up the third set gave Saint Mary's their first lead of the match at 1-0, but was quickly responded to by a 7-3 run from Oregon State. After trading points on four straight serves, the Gaels kicked it into high gear with a 5-0 run to turn a 9-6 deficit into an 11-9 lead. Oregon State would knot things up five times throughout the remainder of the set, and even regained the lead once at 19-18, but the Gaels continues to put together their best set of the match, rattling off a 3-0 run to break the final tie of the set, and ultimately forcing a fourth with a 25-22 win. Firing on all cylinders, the Gaels offense was led again by Genevieve Bane with four kills, while the defense set dig and block highs for a set in this match, with 15 digs, led by Mya Allen's five, and three blocks, with Tessa Schouten getting her hands on two.
After back-to-back kills from Mya Allen opened the fourth set, Oregon State went on an 11-4 run to put themselves in the driver's seat. The Gaels responded with six straight points of their own, with Genevieve Bane, Ivona Lazovic and Anaya Thrower each scoring twice to move ahead 12-11. Unfortunately, however, the Beavers would re-find their footing, rattling off five straight and never looking back, taking the decisive fourth set 25-17. Again the Gaels relied heavily on Genevieve Bane in the final set, leading the way with four of their 10 kills. The defense continued to put up a monumental effort all the way until the final point was scored, with 16 fourth set digs, led by five from Alayna Pearson and four from Ivona Lazovic.
For the third straight match, Genevieve Bane led the way with 13 kills. The dynamic redshirt senior added eight digs and an ace, bringing her career service ace total to 111, still good for fifth all-time in program history. Joining Bane in double figures was Mya Allen, with 11 kills. Allen added 10 digs for her second straight double-double, and recorded her first career multi-block game, demonstrating her defensive value in both the front and back row. Ivona Lazovic tallied 24 assists, six digs, two kills and an ace in another all-around solid performance at the setter position. Alayna Pearson finished tied with Allen for the team lead with 10 digs, while also adding a pair of aces, while middle blockers Tessa Schouten and Anaya Thrower each got their hands on three blocks. With six blocks tonight the Gaels have now recorded 25 over their last four matches, the most over a four game stretch this season.
OFFENSIVE LEADERS, DEFENSIVE LEADERS
Tonight both of those titles were held by the Gaels two starting full rotations outside hitters, Genevieve Bane and Mya Allen. Bane led the offense with 13 kills on 38 swings, while also finishing third on the team with eight digs. Those numbers mirror Bane's play all season, as the Danville native leads the Gaels with 150 kills and ranks third on the team with 50 digs throughout the campaign thus far. Mya Allen turned 37 swings into 11 kills, and also had a team-high 10 digs for her second straight double-double. As if her back row defense wasn't enough, Allen was also excellent at the net, finishing with her first collegiate multi-block match, getting her hands on a pair of rejections.
WELCOME BACK, ANAYA
Anaya Thrower made her return to the floor after missing the last seven matches. The redshirt freshman middle blocker did not disappoint in her return, with three blocks, including a pair of solo blocks to lead the Gaels defensive effort at the net. Thrower also tallied a pair of kills on five swings. Look for the Vacaville native to get even more involved as she continues to work back to full strength.
UP NEXT
The Gaels will head 90 miles up I-5 from Gill Coliseum to the Chiles Center to take on the Portland Pilots on Saturday. First serve is set for 1 PM on September 27.
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