VB | Gaels Down Cal in Five in East Bay Clash

Sunday, August 30

Moraga, CA

2:00 PM

Saint Mary's College of California

2-1,0-0WCC

Cal

2-1,0-0ACC

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
California	23	25	19	25	13	2
Saint Mary's (CA)	25	16	25	22	15	3

Sadie White: 31 Ast, 6 Digs, 1 SA

Photo by: Ayanna Williams/SMC Athletics

VB | Gaels Down Cal in Five in East Bay Clash

8/30/2026 7:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Highlights

MORAGA, Calif. — For the first time since 2018 and just the fourth time in program history, the Saint Mary's Volleyball team defeated their local rival from the other side of the Caldecott tunnel, downing the California Golden Bears in a five set thriller. The Gaels never trailed in the match score, going ahead 1-0 and 2-1 before finishing out the victory in the fifth set. Saint Mary's finished out the 2026 Gael-Bear Classic with a 2-1 record, tied with four other teams for the best in the field.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Set one of this match demonstrated just how evenly matched these two sides were today. The set featured 18 ties and seven lead changes, but on the back of five Layne Dent kills, the Gaels were able to outlast the Golden Bears in set one, 25-23. Cal responded in set two, taking it 25-16 despite a herculean defensive effort from Alayna Pearson, racking up nine digs in the set, sending the match to the 2-3 five minute intermission knotted up at one set apiece.

The Gaels came out inspired to start set three, leading wire to wire in the frame to go ahead 2-1. Antonie Kelnarova shouldered most of the load in set three, with five kills on 10 swings. Saint Mary's pulled ahead 11-7 early in set four, but the Golden Bears refused to go quietly, and took a late lead at 17-16. The Gaels would knot things up four times in set four, but couldn't quite get over the final hurdle, as Cal would force a decisive fifth set, winning the fourth 25-22.

Again, the Gaels came out unphased after dropping a set, firing the opening salvo of the fifth to the tune of a 7-1 run. Cal responded with an 8-2 run of their own to level things at nine, but the remained composed, recording four key sideouts down the stretch to end the match on top, 15-13. Late in the match, the Gaels turned again to Antonie Kelnarova, who answered the bell to the tune of five kills on 10 swings to close out the contest.

GAME NOTES

Saint Mary's logged just its fourth win against Cal in 28 all-time meetings, and logged its first win over a Power Four opponent since 2018, their last win against Cal.
The Gaels recorded 59 kills in the five set thriller, the most in a match this young season, and the most since they went for 61 against San Francisco on Nov. 13, 2025.
Antonie Kelnarova led the Gaels in kills for the second straight match with 19, one shy of her career-high.
Adding to Kelnarova's impressive match, she was a perfect 20-for-20 on serve receptions.
Anaya Thrower continued her extremely efficient start to the year, hitting at 0.353 for today's contest, bringing her season attack percentage to a team-best 0.324.
Alayna Pearson was dazzling defensively, with 22 digs, a new season-high and her seventh 20+ dig performance as a Gael.
Setter Sadie White set new season-highs with 31 assists and six digs, as did Caitlin Prior with 20 assists and eight digs.
Ava Galvan finished out her first week with the Gaels with a four block performance, tying her career-best mark, and giving her a team best 10 in the opening weekend of the season.

QUOTABLE

UP NEXT
The Gaels will head to Sacramento next weekend for three games at the Sac State Invitational. Saint Mary's will open up against Texas Tech on Thursday, September 3 at 4 p.m., followed by a 4 p.m. clash with Nevada on September 4 and a 1:30 p.m. meeting with host Sacramento State on September 5. All games will be streamed live on ESPN+.

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

#GaelsRise