 | | | Shannon Lowell (10) and Kapua Kamana'o (14) Photo Doug Kohen
| | | | | | Saint Mary's women's volleyball expanded their hot steak to five straight victories against Eastern Washington last Thursday, September 10th, at home in McKeon Pavilion.
The Gaels entered the match coming off a sweep of San Jose State the previous night, while the Eagles looked to bounce back from a defeat in the desert to Arizona.
In set one Saint Mary's took early control off of an Eagle's error, cruising behind junior outside hitter Megan York's five kills. While Eastern Washington did put up a fight, they had no chance to take the set and Saint Mary's recorded the win, 25-13.
In set two, Eastern Washington started to find their groove, but it was not enough for the win and Saint Mary's again held them off for a 25-23 victory. A kill from Gael's senior outside hitter Lauren Jaeckel acted as the trigger putting Saint Mary's up 16-14, and the Gaels took the lead for the rest of the set. After an Eagle kill from Hayley Hills, Saint Mary's caught a break with a close shot down the line, and then finished off set two, 25-23 for a 2-0 overall lead.
Eastern Washington found their rhythm in the second set and opened the third with incredible intensity. Set three started with a seemingly endless rally that was awarded to the Gaels. Hills' block early in the set stood as Eastern Washington's first lead of the set, 3-2. The Eagles and the Gaels then battled back and forth, trading points, until Eastern Washington went on a 5-0 run to give them the lead, 13-17 .In response, SMC coach Rob Browning called timeout for the first time that evening.
Out of the timeout, the Gaels capitalized with a 4-0 run of their own, to pull to18-17 and the match saw another timeout, this one from Eastern Washington. The battle continued and the teams traded match points until freshman outside hitter Lauren Corp finished the set and the game with two kills, 29-27. Corp and junior middle blocker Shannon Lowell led the victors with 10 kills each on the night.
Saint Mary's improves their record to 7-1, with the only loss coming in a season opening invitational tournament to then ranked #6 California, while Eastern Washington drops to 3-4 on the year.
Prior to this season, the Gaels were picked to finish third place in the West Coast Conference (WCC) which, according to Browning, is always a battle. Having made the NCAA Tournament last year, Browning anticipates, "they continue to believe in themselves.... if we do that, we'll do great."
Saint Mary's defeated San Diego State on the road Sunday to expand their win streak to six games. The Gaels return to action against Berkeley at Haas Pavilion on Friday, September 18th and travel to Stanford on Saturday, September 19th.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA