Moraga, Calif. - Behind 19 kills from junior Lexi Elman and an 11 kill, eight block night out of junior Alicja Wilk, the Pacific volleyball team got back on track with a 3-1 win over Saint Mary's on the road on Friday night. The Tigers snapped a four-match skid with the win to improve to 15-11 overall and 6-9 in the WCC while the Gaels woes continued falling to 6-19 on the year and 1-14 in conference play.

Set scores for the match were: 25-13, 25-21, 25-27, 25-16.

Easing their way into the match with their block, the Tigers jumped out to an early lead at McKeon Pavilion. Scoring their first two points thanks to the block of Wilk, the Tigers doubled up the Gaels midway through the frame before the offense took over an buried Saint Mary's behind a 10-1 run. At the heart of the onslaught was Elman as the junior outside came up with four of her set-best seven kills while Wilk provided additional support behind the service line with three straight aces to set up set point for Pacific at 24-9.

In the second set, the Tigers looked to bury the Gaels early as Pacific took a quick four point lead only to have the Gaels fight their way back into the set at 13-13. Despite the efforts by the Gaels, the Tigers defense was relentless in keeping the Gaels offense at bat, allowing Pacific's own offense to get rolling once again. Behind a kill and a block from sophomore Janie Feldsher, the Tigers created some separation before putting the set away and taking a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.

Trailing for much of the third, the Tigers would finally take their first lead midway through the set with a 3-0 run that put Pacific up 15-14. Leading the charge was Elman as the junior came up with a pair of kills and her first ace of the night to put Pacific up by three at 17-14, scoring five of the next six points in the set. Pacific would push its lead to three but an array of late hitting mistakes let the Gaels back into set as they forced the frame into extra points where they would steal the victory.

After giving up the set late in the third, the Tigers would make sure not to give the Gaels a chance to send it to a fifth set as Pacific used an 8-0 run midway through the set to put the set and the match away. As they did early in the night in set one, the Tigers used their defense to shutdown Saint Mary's at the net as Wilk and Elman combined on a pair of blocks while Wilk joined senior Kimmy Whitson on a third to make it a six-point game. Unlike the third, they would not take their foot off the gas as the offense hit a match-best .333 to close the set out with an eight point win. 

Overall, Elman finished the night with her 13th double-double on the year netting 19 kills to go with 11 digs. She would also chip in four blocks and two aces to lead the attack. Right behind Elman, Wilk just missed the double-double as she came up with 11 kills to go with her match-best eight blocks. Additionally, Wilk was a force from behind the service line as she netted a career-best five aces. Pacific would tally 12 aces against the Gaels, the most in a four-set match for the Tigers on the year. When the ball found its way past the block, sophomore Katrin Gotterba was there to clean things up as the young libero recored a match-best 21 digs. Pacific totaled 67 digs as a team while holding the Gales to .091 hitting in the match.

Saint Mary's was led by Payton Rund who tallied 11 kills on .257 hitting while posting 10 digs for the double-double. Lindsey Knudsen just missed her own double-double as the freshman finished her night with nine kills to go with a team-best 12 digs.

The Tigers return home on Thursday, Nov. 19 to take on Portland at 7:00 pm. The match will be Pacific's annual Military Appreciation Match. A charity fundraiser, the Tigers will raise money for the Alpha K9 Service Program in Sacramento which is a combat disabled Veteran run, non-profit organization dedicated to the principle of providing highly skilled and effective Service Dogs and Working Dogs to those whose lives depend on them. In addition to helping a great cause the first 200 fans will also get a special Saluting Those Who Served Orange Camo T-shirt which the team will be wearing in warmups.