The Collegian

Issue date: 9/25/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Peter Hunter Freshmen Kapua Kamana'o (14) and Shannon Lowell (10) have been solid contributers for the Gaels to this point in the season. Saint Mary's holds an 8-4 record.

As most of the student body prepared for and recovered from the controlled chaos that is Oasis, the volleyball team concluded their preseason schedule impressively, sweeping Cornell and battling CSU Bakersfield through the full five games.

Despite Cornell's best efforts in Saint Mary's first of two matches on consecutive days, the defending Ivy League champs seemed overmatched to say the least. The Gaels coasted to a decisive win in straight games 30-11, 30-27, 30-12. As has been Saint Mary's tendency all season, they jumped off to sizzling start at the outset and, with the exception of a two-point deficit in the second game, they never relinquished the lead.

While junior Taylor Groess' six-point serve streak got the Gaels jumpstarted, the real deciding factor in the game was Cornell's 14 errors to Saint Mary's none. Lauren Jaeckel '10 and Groess would each tally three kills in the opener, while Alita Fisher '10 had eight digs. Freshman Kapua Kamana'o led the team in assists with 11 and contributed to the squad's .464 hitting percentage.

The second game was a tense back and forth battle. Another opening run gave the Gaels the advantage, but soon the two sides traded points for most of the game. It wasn't until Saint Mary's faltered at 18-19 that Cornell grabbed its only and short-lived lead, eventually stretching it out to 27-24. After two crucial timeouts, the Gaels rolled off six consecutive points to wrap up the match. The third game, again, tilted towards the home team as Groess hit another six-point streak to start off, but the attack was sustained by the Saint Mary's defense. They held Cornell to a -.061 hitting percentage, while they generated .414 percentage of their own. Freshman Megan York continued her superb first year with 17 kills, nine digs, and six blocks for the match. York's classmates, Christy Payne and Shannon Lowell, added 16 assists and six kills, respectively.

The Roadrunners came to Moraga looking for revenge three weeks to the day after they had been upset on their homecourt. In almost identical fashion, the Gaels pulled out the nail-biter after Bakersfield pushed them the full five games 30-17, 30-22, 30-32, 25-30, 15-13. Saint Mary's got off to their usual hot start in both of the first two games, but the young squad faltered in the following two. "Everyone played good in the first two games," said Head Coach Rob Browning, "and everyone played worse in the next two. Bakersfield began serving well, as we knew they could, and we made some mental mistakes."

The tense tiebreaking fifth game was a seesaw struggle. A York kill and an ace by Payne put the Gaels up on their way to a 13-11 lead. A subsequent attacking error and service error by the Roadrunners sealed the win. York tied her career-high in kills with 26, while Groess added 21. Jaeckel was perfect in the second game, going 6-for-6, while Megan Burton '10 had four kills on five swings.

The final two wins, which came this last Friday and Saturday improved the Gaels' record to 8-4 overall heading into their first West Coast Conference game this Thursday against Gonzaga.

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