Saturday, September 26
Denver, CO
12:00 PM
Saint Mary's College of California
7-7,2-0WCC
3
at
1
Denver
8-6,1-1WCC
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint Mary's (CA) | 25 | 25 | 24 | 28 | 3 |
| Denver | 23 | 18 | 26 | 26 | 1 |
Anaya Thrower: 11 Kills (0.450 Att%), 3 Blocks
Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner
VB | Gaels Hand Denver First Home Loss of 2026, Begin Conference Play 2-0
9/26/2026 3:58:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
DENVER, Colo. — It has been a stellar start to conference play for the Saint Mary's Gaels, who capped off a perfect week with a four set win over Denver on Saturday afternoon. Denver entered the day 5-0 at home this season, but were handed their first home record blemish by the Gaels.Â
HOW IT HAPPENED
Riding momentum from Thursday's massive victory at San Diego, the Gaels came out of the gates hot in the Rocky Mountains, taking an early two sets to none lead. Set one was ultra competitive between the two sides, but Denver seemed to take late momentum in the frame, going on a 3-0 run to take a 21-18 lead. No strangers to having their backs against the wall, the Gaels battled to level things up at 22 apiece, charged by a pair of Ava Galvan kills. The Gaels would keep it rolling, and closed the set on a 7-2 run to take it 25-23. Layne Dent found her groove early in this one, with six kills in the opening frame.Â
The Gaels were a bit more dominant in the second set, never trailing throughout the set. An early 4-0 run on the back of a Caroline Formankova service run gave the Gaels a 7-3 lead that they would not relinquish throughout the set. Layne Dent doubled down on her brilliant set one effort, adding six more kills in set two.Â
Denver returned the favor against the Gaels in set three, with an early 4-0 run to seize momentum. The Gaels fought tooth and nail to get back into the set and staved off a pair of set points to tie things up at 24 all. A kill and an ace, however, from Denver would end the set and force a fourth. After six kills in set one and set two, Dent continued to stay red hot in set three, with seven kills.Â
A punch and counter punch set four started with Denver throwing the opening blow, pulling ahead to an early 10-7 lead. The ballooned that lead to 19-14, but a 6-1 Gaels run tied things up at 20 apiece. Back and forth both teams would trade sideouts, with Denver getting the first chance at set points, 24-23. Anaya Thrower would slam a kill down to stave off the first, followed by a Sadie White kill to give the Gaels their first chance at match point. While the Gaels couldn't put the match away on that point, they would never allow Denver to serve for the set for the remainder of the fourth, eventually taking the set 28-26, and the match, 3-1.
GAME NOTES
The Gaels will be back in Southern California next week, as they get set to take on LMU (Oct. 1, 6 p.m.) and Pepperdine (Oct. 3, 1 p.m.). Both games can be streamed live on ESPN+.
Don't miss a second of Saint Mary's Volleyball action in 2026! Tickets are on sale here!
#GaelsRise
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HOW IT HAPPENED
Riding momentum from Thursday's massive victory at San Diego, the Gaels came out of the gates hot in the Rocky Mountains, taking an early two sets to none lead. Set one was ultra competitive between the two sides, but Denver seemed to take late momentum in the frame, going on a 3-0 run to take a 21-18 lead. No strangers to having their backs against the wall, the Gaels battled to level things up at 22 apiece, charged by a pair of Ava Galvan kills. The Gaels would keep it rolling, and closed the set on a 7-2 run to take it 25-23. Layne Dent found her groove early in this one, with six kills in the opening frame.Â
The Gaels were a bit more dominant in the second set, never trailing throughout the set. An early 4-0 run on the back of a Caroline Formankova service run gave the Gaels a 7-3 lead that they would not relinquish throughout the set. Layne Dent doubled down on her brilliant set one effort, adding six more kills in set two.Â
Denver returned the favor against the Gaels in set three, with an early 4-0 run to seize momentum. The Gaels fought tooth and nail to get back into the set and staved off a pair of set points to tie things up at 24 all. A kill and an ace, however, from Denver would end the set and force a fourth. After six kills in set one and set two, Dent continued to stay red hot in set three, with seven kills.Â
A punch and counter punch set four started with Denver throwing the opening blow, pulling ahead to an early 10-7 lead. The ballooned that lead to 19-14, but a 6-1 Gaels run tied things up at 20 apiece. Back and forth both teams would trade sideouts, with Denver getting the first chance at set points, 24-23. Anaya Thrower would slam a kill down to stave off the first, followed by a Sadie White kill to give the Gaels their first chance at match point. While the Gaels couldn't put the match away on that point, they would never allow Denver to serve for the set for the remainder of the fourth, eventually taking the set 28-26, and the match, 3-1.
GAME NOTES
- Saint Mary's opened conference play 2-0 for the first time since 2022.Â
- This is the third time in program history that the Gaels have opened conference play 2-0 with two road wins (2009 and 2022).Â
- The Gaels averaged a season-best 16.0 kills per set against the Pioneers, due in large part to 23 kills from Layne Dent.Â
- This was Dent's second time eclipsing 20 kills in her career, after going for 24 kills against Sacramento State two weeks ago.Â
- For the second time this season, and first time since week one of the year, the Gaels hit better than 0.200, coming in at 0.281. Sadie White (0.667), Anaya Thrower (0.450), Layne Dent (0.354) and Makenzie Jackson (0.318) all hit over 0.300 in the match.Â
- On top of her stellar attacking match, Layne Dent also added seven digs, matching her career best tally.Â
- Sadie White (46 Assists, 14 Digs) recorded her fourth straight double-double, adding to her career-long double-double streak.
- With two aces today, Antonie Kelnarova moved into the top-10 for single season service aces, now with 39.Â
The Gaels will be back in Southern California next week, as they get set to take on LMU (Oct. 1, 6 p.m.) and Pepperdine (Oct. 3, 1 p.m.). Both games can be streamed live on ESPN+.
Don't miss a second of Saint Mary's Volleyball action in 2026! Tickets are on sale here!
#GaelsRise
Â
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Women's VolleyballOPP
/ Women's VolleyballMB
/ Women's VolleyballOPP
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's VolleyballMB
/ Women's VolleyballS
/ Women's VolleyballTeam Stats
SMC
Denver
Kills
64
46
Errors
21
22
Attempts
153
152
Hitting %
.281
.158
Points
76.0
60.0
Assists
57
44
Aces
4
9
Blocks
8
5
Game Leaders
Kills
23
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Saturday, September 26
Thursday, September 24
Saturday, September 19
Saturday, September 19
