Match report: St. Mary’s vs. San Diego

Well hey there, unexpectedly significant match.

I sort of scoffed last week when I saw that there were two televised matches tonight, Georgia vs. LSU (which I didn’t even bother to cover, it’s two lesser teams in a bad volleyball conference…even though it was a pretty good match) and St. Mary’s vs. San Diego.

I didn’t expect the WCC matchup would be any more interesting, considering San Diego is a strong team on the national scene, and a week ago St. Mary’s wouldn’t have been considered the same. But then last week the Gaels comfortably defeated the first two ranked teams the WCC has to offer, setting aside Pepperdine and hanging the first loss of the season on BYU.

It got St. Mary’s mentioned in the national poll for the first time of the year, and a third straight win over a ranked opponent might even get them into the rankings themselves. It would certainly make them the top team in a very solid conference for volleyball. But the Toreros
certainly were not to go quietly, as they entered tonight’s contest with an active 9-match winning streak.

The first match ran long, meaning we only joined this one after the first set was already finished, with the Toreros taking it 25-19 thanks to some impressive defense that held the Gaels to a paltry .022 hitting percentage. The second set was wildly competitive, with St. Mary’s taking the first two-point lead (after 2-0) at 12-10 and 13-11. They led 17-14 before the Toreros remarkably ran off eight straight, on the strength of senior outside hitter Amber Tatsch‘s serve. Trading points the rest of the way, the Toreros went up two sets to none 25-20.

The third set was every bit as competitive as the second. Nobody went ahead by more than three points, and if they even went ahead that much, the other side quickly ran off two or three to tie it back up. The turning point may have been when the Gaels were able to side out on Tatsch’s first serve, keeping her from serving any more than just that one. She is known as a very strong server. The even third set extended all the way to 24-23 and a set point for St. Mary’s, but the Toreros staved it off. Then the Gaels got another at 25-24, and won it with a kill off the block and out.

The fourth set started off much the same, but San Diego started to pull away at 12-9 and led by two or three most of the set. The Gaels’ hitting star and top scorer Gabby Jolly did everything to try to keep her girls in it, and after drawing within one an few times they eventually did draw even again at 23-23 when Sandra Lozic misfired. However, the Gaels coughed the opportunity up with a service error, letting the Toreros out of a difficult rotation for them. A service ace ended it.

#15 San Diego d. St. Mary’s (25-19, 25-20, 24-26, 25-23)

The Gaels held their own, but were pretty clearly the second-best team on the court. I expect they’ll remain pretty much where they were in terms of national repute — the dread ‘also receiving votes’ category in the national poll. Are they an NCAA tournament team? Tough to say. It’s tough to figure the WCC will get four bids, but maybe they deserve four bids. If they can knock off Pepperdine or BYU on the road, or even San Diego on their home court, they’ll have a solid case.

San Diego’s winning streak extends to ten matches — the last six of which, oddly enough, have all been four-setters. They definitely assert themselves as the top team in the WCC, which is no mean feat.

If this report seemed a little barer than previous ones, that’s because it was. My connection to this match was spotty and terrible. I got what I could, but I think I captured the essence of what was going on. Hope it improves for next time around.