WACO, Tex. — It was a tough start for the Gaels (1-3) to open play at the Baylor Classic. Getting a chance to face off with a Big 10 foe for the first time since 2017, the Gaels took on a red-hot Northwestern (3-1) squad, whose only loss was to 20th ranked Baylor an evening ago. The Gaels duked it out with the Wildcats, staying competitive early in two of the three sets, but ultimately fell in their first sweep of 2025. 

Both teams were evenly matched through the first 22 points, playing to an 11 all stalemate with neither team ever leading by more than one. A 6-1 run put the Wildcats into the drivers seat, but three straight Northwestern errors helped spark a 7-1 Gaels run to give them their first lead since 7-6 at 19-18. The Wildcats would take a timeout to re-find their footing, and that is exactly what they did, closing out the set on a 7-2 run to move ahead 1-0. Gracie Vohs led the offense with three kills. Tessa Schouten added two and the lone block of the set for the Gaels, while Ivona Lazovic tallied five assists, three digs and an ace in set one. 

The Gaels offense struggled to get anything going in set two, recording just two kills in the first 14 points of the set, spotting Northwestern and early 11-3 lead that they were able to ride all the way to a 25-14 set two victory. Clarissa Klein was the brightest spot for the Gaels in set two, with four kills and a block, while Tessa Schouten remained active on the blocking front as well with two more to lead the Gaels with three through two sets. 

Set three seemed to mirror set one at the start, with the two squads again matching each other through the first half of the set, knotted up at 11 apiece. Unlike the first set, and more similar to the second set, however, Northwestern was able to close out the set and match on a 14-3 run, 25-14. Clarissa Klein maintained her high efficiency offensive output with three kills, but unfortunately, the rest of the Saint Mary's team combined for just three additional kills in the final frame. 

Against a very stout defense from the Wildcats, the Gaels mustered just 23 kills for the match, with nine coming from Clarissa Klein, and six from Gracie Vohs. Ivona Lazovic logged her first collegiate double-double with 18 assists and 12 digs, while also adding a kill, an ace and a block. Defensively, the Gaels were led by Alayna Pearson, who accounted for 17 of their 38 digs, and Tessa Schouten, who had her hands on three of the four Gael blocks. 

A FIRST FOR LAZOVIC
True freshman setter Ivona Lazovic has played like a veteran throughout her first four collegiate matches, but today, she logged a career, first pairing together strong setting and steadfast defense for her first collegiate double-double. Lazovic finished with 18 assists and a career-high 12 digs. After just three digs in her first collegiate start, Lazovic has logged 20 of her last two starts. On top of the high dig and assist numbers, Lazovic also chipped in a kill, an ace and a block. 

BACK ROW BATTLES
The Gaels defense averaged 12.7 digs per set in today's contest, besting their previous season high of 11.8 set against Bowling Green six days ago. Leading the charge was Alayna Pearson, who went for 17 digs in the three set contest, moving her season dig per set average to 4.0. While it's still early in the season, only two Gaels in program history have averaged four or more digs per set throughout an entire season (Alita Fisher twice and Sarah Reams)

UP NEXT
The Gaels will take on 20th ranked Baylor tonight at 5 PM PST. 

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