VB | Gaels Shake Off Slow Start for Senior Day Victory Over Portland - SMC California Athletics (2024)

Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner

• Box Score

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | 11/27/2024 3:49:00 PM

MORAGA, Calif. — The Gaels (10-16, 6-11 WCC) sent off graduating seniors Clarissa Klein and Hannah Taylor with one final home victory, defeating Portland (12-15, 5-12 WCC) in four sets. Saint Mary's fell into an early 1-0 deficit, but rallied back to win sets two through four, to finish out their home season above 0.500.

While the Gaels reigned supreme in this one, it certainly didn't seem like it would go that way in set one. Portland hit at 0.708 for the first set, recording 17 kills on 24 swings without an error. The Gaels fell behind 3-0 to start the match, and while they would cut the deficit to 3-2, that was as close as they would get, dropping the first frame 25-12. Hannah Taylor did everything in her power to try and claw the Gaels back into the set, with three kills on seven swings and just one error, but it was the Pilots who threw a decisive opening blow in this contest.

The Gaels made few wrinkles to their lineup in set two, starting Katherine Gee at libero and having Hailee Garcia play both front and back row. Saint Mary's again fell behind early in set two, trailing at 7-5 before ripping off a 7-0 run on the back of Hailee Garcia's service. That 7-0 run elongated out to 20-10 as the Gaels would respond by leveling the match with a 25-17 set two victory. Saint Mary's hit at 0.323 for the second set, 240 points better than what they hit in set one, as Genevieve Bane kicked it into high gear with five kills on 10 swings and just one error. Tessa Schouten, Evelyn Hendrix and Hailee Garcia combined four six more kills on seven swings and no errors, while Katherine Gee recorded eight digs, three more than the entire team in set one.

Set three saw Portland ahead 17-14 late, but the Gaels turned to their veteran outside hitters, Abby Castillon and Genevieve Bane, behind the service line and on the attack respectively, to claw back ahead. Castillon served the Gaels on a 9-0 run, a run that featured four Bane kills, to flip the script in the set and match. Saint Mary's closed out the third, winning 25-19, and putting the Pilots' backs against the wall. Bane finished out set three with five more kills on 15 swings and just one error, while Madi Zorn chipped in six of the Gaels 14 set three digs.

The fourth and final set was the best showing from the Gaels all match, hitting at 0.414 and committing just three attack errors. Portland took their last lead at 6-5, before Hailee Garcia knotted things up with a dump kill, and Genevieve Bane added two more to give the Gaels a lead that they would not relinquish for the remainder of the match, outscoring the Pilots 20-8 down the final stretch. This time, it was Bane, Hannah Taylor and Garcia who served as the errorless trio, going for 11 kills on 19 swings and no errors, with Bane leading the way with six on nine swings. Madi Zorn added a pair of aces to help the Gaels close this one out in four.

For her eighth consecutive match, Genevieve Bane tallied double digit kills with 18, to go along with two aces and two blocks. Hannah Taylor also reached double figures, with 12 kills, as the duo hit a combined 0.333, accounting for 30 of SMC's 53 kills. Hailee Garcia had a career-high four kills, 39 assists and two blocks, while also accounting four eight digs and an ace, playing full rotation in three of today's four sets. Madi Zorn tied with Genevieve Bane for the team lead with two aces, while contributing nine digs. Katherine Gee got the nod at libero from the second set one, and recorded 13 digs, while Tessa Schouten joined Bane and Garcia with a pair of blocks to tie for the team high mark in the match.

MORE HISTORY FOR BANE
Redshirt junior Genevieve Bane continued her historic season today, with a team-high 18 kills. The 18 kills not only mark her eighth consecutive double-digit kill performance, tying her for the longest streak since 2018, when Lindsey Calvin also had eight straight, but it also got her over the 800 kill mark, making her the first Gael since Lindsey Knudsen to reach that mark. Bane also recorded a pair of service aces today, bringing her to 96 for her career, moving her to ninth all-time in program history, only in her junior year.

NEW ROLES, EXCELLENT RESULTS
With Clarissa Klein and Kaliko Kealoha absent in today's match, as well as a sluggish set one performance, the Gaels had to pivot by switching up some roles for their key players today, and that pivot seemed to work to perfection for more than a few Gaels. Gracie Vohs started the match as the first opposite off the bench, and eventually shifted to full rotation outside hitter. The freshman answered the bell to the tune of a career-high nine kills and five digs. Setter Hailee Garcia also had to shift to playing both the front and back rows, and also thrived in the new role with career marks in kills (4), assists (39) and blocks (2). Evelyn Hendrix made her first collegiate start at middle blocker and was extremely efficient with three kills on four swings and just one error, while defensively, Katherine Gee moved to libero and Madi Zorn to defensive specialist at the start of set two and went for 13 and nine digs respectively.

UP NEXT
The Gaels will close their season in San Diego, taking on the Toreros on Saturday. First serve is set for 11 AM.

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