Moraga, Calif. - With losses at the top of the WCC standings opening the door for the Tigers to move a game closer of first place, Pacific did not waste its golden opportunity as the team produced a 3-0 sweep of Saint Mary's on the road on Thursday, Oct. 30. With the win the Tigers moved into a tie for second in the standings at 8-3 in WCC play while improving to 19-5 overall. The sweep was their fourth-straight clean match while it was their fifth-straight overall victory. The Gaels fell to 7-14 on the year and 3-8 in conference action.

Set scores for the match were: 25-20, 25-22, 25-16.

Down 6-4 right out of the gate, the Tigers immediately put the Gaels on the defensive as Pacific rolled off seven-straight points to take firm control of the opening frame. Led by their sophomore in the middle, Alicia Wilk, the Tigers were able to dominate the net as Wilk came up with four points during the early going of the contest tallying a pair of blocks to go along with a kill and an ace. After doubling up the Gaels at 14-7, Pacific would slowly work its way to the victory, holding the Gaels at bay for the remainder of the set thanks in large part to the play of senior Katy Tagart and junior Kat Schulz who went 8-for-18 with no errors in the set. 

Picking up right where they left off and beginning just as they had begun in set one, the Tigers ran out to a quick 12-6 lead over the Gaels as Wilk once again asserted her dominance in the middle. With Wilk opening up the center, the Tigers continued to have free swings at the pins as Schulz found the floor four more times while sophomore Lexi Elman began to get into a rhythm with four of her own kills. As they did in the opener, Pacific broke away with a seven point lead at 17-10 before having to hold off a pair of late rallies by the Gaels that brought Saint Mary's to within one before Pacific could capture the second set victory.

Out of the break, the two teams resumed the battle that finished the second set as the Gaels refused to go away, fighting back every time the Tigers tried to pull away early. Unable to use their offense to make the difference in the set, the Tigers turned to their defense to turn the tides of the contest as Pacific's block began to get its hands on every Saint Mary's attack. With the block upsetting the Gaels rhythm, the Tigers were able to turn a tight 14-12 contest into a comfortable 20-12 lead that would hold the rest of the way.

Offensively, the Tigers used guile over brute force as Pacific was forced to find new ways to get points against a tough Gael block. Despite Saint Mary's best efforts, the Tigers were able to hit .226 (45-19-115) overcoming an 11.0-to-4.0 block discrepancy. On the night, Schulz finished with a match-best 13 kills on .344 hitting as she also added a match-best 13 digs to finish off her eighth double-double of the season. In the middle, Wilk finished with six kills and a team-high four blocks while senior Gillian Howard added eight kills on .538 attacking (8-1-13). On the outside, Elman ended her match with nine kills and eight digs while Tagart added eight kills and two blocks.

The Gaels were paced by Natalie Loos and Samantha Tinsley as the duo each dropped in 12 kills. As a team, Saint Mary's hit just .143 (35-18-119) as Pacific came up with 52 digs to offset the block.

The Tigers stay on the road for a pair of matches next week when they travel to San Diego and No. 11 BYU. Pacific is in search of some payback against the Toreros on Thursday, Nov. 7 when they play at the Jenny Craig Pavilion beginning at 7:00 pm. Last time out, the Toreros stole a five-set victory over Pacific at the Spanos Center to keep the Tigers one game back in the WCC standings.