VB | Dent, Kelnarova and Galvan Lead Gaels to Halloween Sweep of Pacific

Saturday, October 31

Moraga, CA

2:00 PM

Saint Mary's College of California

14-9,9-2WCC

Pacific

4-19,0-11WCC

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Pacific	11	25	18	0
Saint Mary's (CA)	25	27	25	3

Highlights

Layne Dent: 10 Kills, 17 Swings, 0.412 Att%

Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner

10/31/2026 5:19:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Highlights

MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's Volleyball took care of business against the Pacific Tigers on Saturday afternoon, sweeping their NorCal rival to remain in the upper echelons of the West Coast Conference Standings. The win marks the Gaels' sixth sweep of the season, and second in WCC play this year.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Gaels set the tone early with a dominant 25-11 set one victory. Seven different Gaels recorded kills in the set, led by Layne Dent, who turned four swings into three kills. Led by Ava Galvan (two solo blocks) and Alayna Pearson (four digs), the Gaels' defense also shined, shutting down the Tigers' attack, holding them to a -0.148 hitting percentage in the opening frame.

Despite the lopsided set one scoreline, the Tigers came out hot in the second set, and took a 20-18 lead, looking to level things at one set apiece. Pacific maintained that two point lead, and earned a pair of set point opportunities at 24-22. The Gaels turned to Layne Dent, who smashed home a pair of kills to level things at 24 apiece, before Sadie White and Ava Galvan linked up for a block to give the Gaels' their first set point opportunity in set two. Following a timeout, Pacific would sideout, but a Galvan kill and a White ace would end the deadlock in favor of the Gaels, 27-25. The marathon set featured 17 ties and five lead changes, but Dent (four kills) and Galvan (four blocks) guided the Gaels to the hard fought victory to go up 2-0.

Both sides would match each other through the first eight rallies of set three, punctuated by an Antonie Kelnarova kill. That put Kelnarova behind the service line, where she lazered home her program record breaking 51st ace of the season, quickly followed by her 52nd, sparking a 5-0 Gaels run to give them an 8-4 lead. Pacific would knot things up one last time at 13 apiece, but couldn't ever clear the final hurdle, as the Gaels saw away the sweep with a 25-18 set three victory. Kelnarova finished out the final frame with five kills and two aces, once again serving as the Gaels' de-facto closer of matches.

GAME NOTES

Antonie Kelnarova broke the program single season ace record with her 51st today, then extended that record one serve later with her 52nd.
Kelnarova is now five aces away from breaking the West Coast Conference single season ace record of 56 (rally scoring era).
The Prague, Czechia native also recorded 10 kills and four digs to her pair of aces.
While Kelnarova had her momentous, record-breaking aces, Sadie White led the team with four, matching her career-high and accounting for half of the Gaels' team tally of eight.
White also led the Gaels with 28 assists.
Layne Dent had an extremely efficient match, turning 17 kills into 10 swings and just three errors, good for a team-best 0.412 clip. This is the second time this year that Dent has recorded double-digit kills while hitting north of 0.400.
Ava Galvan matched her career-high, getting her hands on six of the Gaels' seven total blocks.
Alayna Pearson broke out of a small cold spell, averaging better than three digs per set in a match for the first time in three weeks (10 digs in three sets).
Pacific becomes the third team this season, and the first WCC foe that the Gaels have held below 0.100 on the attack (0.038).

QUOTABLE

UP NEXT
The Gaels will remain home for a gauntlet of a week next week, hosting Pepperdine (Nov. 5) and LMU (Nov. 7). Saint Mary's sits one game out of first place, trailing both the Waves and Lions by that margin.

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

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