VB | Career Games for Dent and Thrower not Enough as Gaels Fall in Five to Sacramento State

Saturday, September 5

Sacramento, CA

1:30 PM

Saint Mary's College of California

3-3,0-0WCC

Sacramento State

3-3,0-0Big West

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Saint Mary's (CA)	21	26	26	14	11	2
Sacramento St.	25	24	24	25	15	3

Anaya Thrower Tallied a Career-High 10 Blocks Today

Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner

VB | Career Games for Dent and Thrower not Enough as Gaels Fall in Five to Sacramento State

9/5/2026 4:59:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Highlights

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The final matchup of the 2026 Sac State Invitational was arguably the most competitive of the bunch, as Saint Mary's and host Sacramento State locked in a thrilling five set affair, with the Hornets narrowly outlasting the Gaels, 3-2. Career-highs aplenty were set by Gaels, headlined by 13 kills from Layne Dent and 10 blocks from Anaya Thrower in the Sunday afternoon clash.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The closeness of this match was apparent from the get go in set one. The Gaels jumped out early, doubling up on the Hornets at 10-5, but Sacramento State responded by taking eight of the next 11 points to knot things up at 13 apiece. A Caroline Formankova kill would push the Gaels back in front at 20-19, but again, the Hornets would counter, this time by scoring six of the final seven points of the set to pull ahead 1-0.

Set two was one of the wildest to date played by the Gaels, featuring 18 ties and 12 lead changes. An Antonie Kelnarova ace gave the Gaels a chance to serve for the back-and-forth set at 24-23, but the Hornets would side out, forcing bonus volleyball. Maddie Way would come to the rescue for Saint Mary's in the second, however, recording a block and an ace to give the Gaels the set and knot things up at one all. While it was Way's heroics that sealed the set, it was Antonie Kelnarova who drove the Gaels throughout the frame, with four kills, five digs and two aces.

Both sides saw large leads evaporate in set three, with the Gaels jumping ahead to a 13-6 lead, and the Hornets responding with a 15-3 run of their own, pulling ahead 21-16. It was the Gaels, however, who would throw the haymaker to close out the set, scoring 10 of the final 14 points to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Four kills from Makenzie Jackson and four blocks from Anaya Thrower were enough to guide the Gaels to their set three victory.

The momentum from sets two and three, unfortunately, would not carry over to sets four and five, as the Hornets never trailed over the final two frames. After falling behind 5-1 in the fifth, the Gaels would rally back to tie things up at both five and six apiece, but that was as close as they were able to get, ultimately dropping the decisive fifth, 15-11.

GAME NOTES

Antonie Kelnarova once again led the Gaels with 15 kills, 13 digs and three aces, good for a double-double, following last night's triple-double.
Layne Dent went for a career-high 13 kills, besting her previous high of 11 set 48 hours ago against Texas Tech.
True freshman setter Caitlin Prior drew her first collegiate start, and went for 18 assists and a career-best nine digs.
At the net, Anaya Thrower continued to dominate, with 10 roofs, a new career mark.
Thrower led the Gaels to a 15 team block match, their most this season, and the most since last year's win over Gonzaga on Oct. 18, 2025.
For the third time this season, the Gaels recorded double-digit service aces, with 11, and for the fourth time this year, the Gaels had more aces than service errors.
Caroline Formankova led that effort with four aces and no errors from the service line. She is the only Gael to have an ace in every match this season.

UP NEXT
The Gaels will head to Boise next for the Boise State Invitational. There, they will take on Eastern Washington (Sep. 10), Boise State (Sep. 11) and have a rematch with the Hornets (Sep. 12).

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

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