VB | Gaels Drop Home Match to San Diego - SMC California Athletics

Saturday, October 24

Moraga, CA

2:00 PM

Saint Mary's College of California

13-9,8-2WCC

San Diego

11-8,6-3WCC

Team	1	2	3	Final F
San Diego	25	25	25	3
Saint Mary's (CA)	21	13	17	0

Highlights

Anaya Thrower: 6 Kills, 12 Swings, 0 Errors, 0.500 H%

Photo by: Ayanna Williams/SMC Athletics

10/24/2026 5:23:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Highlights

MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's Volleyball began the second half of conference play on Saturday, falling to the San Diego Toreros in three sets. The Gaels will now enter their bye week in WCC play, and will have a full week to regroup before next taking on Pacific on Halloween.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams came out firing in the first set, with the Gaels hitting a strong 0.273 and the Toreros hitting an astonishing 0.424. As such, the two sides found themselves deadlocked at 20 apiece before San Diego closed out the set on a 4-1 run to go ahead 1-0. Layne Dent and Antonie Kelnarova combined for eight of the Gaels' 13 set one kills, while Alayna Pearson had four of their nine digs.

Set two had the makings of being just as tight, with the two sides splitting the first six points, however, a 9-2 USD run would charge them all the way to a 25-13 set two win. Kelnarova had three more kills to go along with four digs in the second frame, but couldn't rally her troops back from an early deficit.

San Diego continued with momentum in the third building a 20-11 lead. The Gaels remained steadfast in their resolve, cutting the deficit to six late, but that was as close as they would get, falling 25-17. Kelnarova and Anaya Thrower came to life offensively late, with a combined seven kills without an error, as Thrower finished the match out error-less.

GAME NOTES

Antonie Kelnarova came up with a team-high 11 kills, bringing her weekend total to 37, her most in a two match week this season.
Layne Dent added nine kills, surpassing 250 for her career while Anaya Thrower had six on 12 swings without an error to hit at a 0.500 clip.
This was the first time this year that Thrower has hit 0.500 or better (min. five kills).
Alayna Pearson led the team with seven digs and added the Gaels' lone service ace.
A trio of other players (Sadie White, Mikayla Haner and Antonie Kelnarova) had five digs, with White leading the team with 25 assists.

QUOTABLE

UP NEXT
The Gaels will enter their bye week, not taking the court again until Saturday, October 31, when they host Pacific. First serve for the Halloween clash is set for 2 p.m. Get your tickets at smcgaels.com/tickets or stream the match live on ESPN+.

Don't miss a second of Saint Mary's Volleyball action in 2026! Tickets are on sale here!

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