STOCKTON, Calif. – The Pacific volleyball team returns to the Alex G. Spanos Center on Friday, Sept. 30, as it faces off against Saint Mary's on Friday, Sept. 30 in a West Coast Conference contest.
The Tigers (9-6, 1-2), coming off their first home match of the season against Santa Clara last Tuesday, recorded 62 kills, with Alexa Edwards and Biamba Kabengele combining for 34. Edwards recorded her team-leading sixth double-double of the season against the Broncos, tallying 18 kills and 13 digs, while Kabengele added a double-double with 16 kills and 10 digs.
Through the first three conference matches of the season, the Tigers lead all members with 187 kills while accumulating a league-high 14.38 kills per set. The team's .231 hitting percentage ranks fourth in the conference, while the 171 assists rank first and are 40 ahead of the next closest opponent.
Saint Mary's enters Friday's contest on top of the conference standings, with the Gaels (6-5, 3-0) being the lone team to accumulate three conference wins this season. After dropping the first four matches of the season, the Gaels have won six of the last seven contests and are coming off a 3-0 sweep of San Francisco last Tuesday.
Hawley Harrer leads the team offensively, recording a team-high 138 kills through 11 matches for the Gaels this season. Harrer ranks ninth in the conference in kills while tallying 3.45 kills per set for sixth best in the league. Defensively, Kristen Erland has added a team-high 37 blocks and ranks fourth in the conference with 1.28 blocks per set.
The Tigers are 14-11 against the Gaels since the first-ever meeting during the 1979 season, winning eight matches since rejoining the conference in 2013. Last season, the two programs split the series, with the Gaels sweeping the Tigers, 3-0, at the UCU Pavilion before the Tigers earned a 3-1 win at the Alex G. Spanos Center later In the season.
Friday's contest will feature the Tigers' annual Dig Pink Night where fans will have the opportunity to wear pink to the event and be given pink awareness ribbons along with "Together We're Tougher than Cancer" signs.
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