PORTLAND, Ore. — For the second time over their two game Oregon road trip, the Gaels (2-11, 0-2 WCC) found themselves behind the eight ball in a two sets to none deficit against Portland (7-6, 2-0 WCC). Just like Thursday night at Oregon State, the Gaels rallied to win the third, and, unlike two nights ago, also took the fourth, squaring things off at two sets apiece. It was a mad dash to 15 to decide things, and the Pilots won that race, taking the match in five.
Set one was a tight one, with 15 ties and six lead changes, and neither team ever leading by more than three. The Gaels had more kills and aces in the set, but it was Portland's defense who ended up +3 in both digs and blocks, paired with 10 unforced SMC errors (service errors and unblocked attack errors) that led the Pilots to a narrow 25-22 set one win. Genevieve Bane led the Gaels with four kills, and was the only SMC pin hitter to hit better than 0.000. Bane also added an ace, along with Abby Castillon and Alayna Pearson.
The second frame was not nearly as tightly contested as the first. After a Gracie Vohs kill leveled things at one apiece, the Pilots would go on a 3-0 run and would not relinquish it for the remainder of the set, cruising to a 25-14 set two win and a 2-0 lead in the match. Mya Allen recorded six second set kills, double the amount of kills from the rest of her team combined in the frame.
With the Gaels backs against the wall in the third set, a spark was lit, jumping ahead to an early 7-0 lead, courtesy of four blocks from Anaya Thrower. The Pilots would get as close as three in the third, which would actually end as the final deficit, with the Gaels forcing a fourth with a 25-22 set three win. It was Gracie Vohs' turn to lead the Gaels attack in the third set, with six kills, while Anaya Thrower got her hands on all four of the Gaels blocks in the frame, as Saint Mary's outblocked Portland 4-0.
The Gaels continued to hold their lead into the fourth set until the Pilots rallied to take their first lead of the fourth at 11-10. Saint Mary's would re-find their footing with a 3-0 run, and while Portland tied things up once at 17 apiece, the Gaels would finish off the set outscoring the Pilots 8-3, playing like a team inspired to force a fifth. The 15 kills for the Gaels in set four was a team-high for the match, with five coming from Mya Allen and four from Gracie Vohs.
Saint Mary's and Portland traded sideouts over the first six points of the set, but the Pilots would then rattle off the next three points, which was all that they needed to polish off the set and match, taking it 15-10 and 3-2 respectively. Gracie Vohs was effective in the final frame with three kills on five swings without an error.
Gracie Vohs put up a career day offensively for the Gaels, going for 19 kills and hitting at 0.270 to lead all SMC hitters, while adding a pair of blocks. A year ago, Vohs played in 14 matches and tallied 25 kills, she has nearly quadrupled that in the same time this year. Mya Allen finished just behind Vohs with 17 kills, and also came up with 11 digs for her third straight double-double. Genevieve Bane was third Gael to reach double figures, with 11 kills to go along with eight digs and a team-high three aces, now leading the team with 17 this season. Ivona Lazovic finished up just one dig shy of an assist-dig double-double with 33 and nine respectively, while Anaya Thrower had her second five block match of the season, getting her hands on every rejection the Gaels recorded tonight.
SHARING THE WEALTH
Saint Mary's had 168 swings in today's match, with 144 of those coming from four of the Gaels pins. Mya Allen led the way with 48 swings, turning those into 17 kills. Genevieve Bane finished second by hit volume, with 38 swings and 11 kills with just four errors. Gracie Vohs was the most efficient of the Gael hitters turning 37 swings into a team-high and career-high 19 kills. Last, but certainly not least, Clarissa Klein got back into the attacking fold with six kills on 21 swings after going three straight matches without a kill. The Gael pins accounted in total for 54 of their 59 total kills.
THROWER: A FORCE AT THE NET
The Gaels tallied five total blocks today with Anaya Thrower getting her hands on all five of them. The Vacaville native returned from injury this week to block eight total attacks over the two match trip to Oregon. All five of Thrower's blocks today came in the two sets that the Gaels won.
WEEK IN REVIEW
The Gaels got all three of their starting pins heavily involved over their trip to Oregon. Mya Allen led the way with 28 kills, while Gracie Vohs and Genevieve Bane each had 24. Allen also led the Gaels with 21 digs, going for a pair of double-doubles against the Beavs and Pilots. Ivona Lazovic led the way with 57 assists, while Anaya Thrower finished with a team-high eight blocks. Serving was arguably the best part of the Gaels game this weekend, with 12 aces and only 14 service errors. Alayna Pearson and Genevieve Bane each recorded four to lead the charge.
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