STOCKTON, Calif. – The Pacific volleyball team returned to the win column Friday evening, earning a 25-18, 25-16, 25-21 straight-set victory over Saint Mary's in a West Coast Conference contest at the Alex G. Spanos Center.
Biamba Kabengele continued her offensive dominance for the Tigers (10-6, 2-2) during conference play, recording her fourth-straight match with double-digit kills. Tallying a team-high 16 kills in the win over the Gaels (6-6, 3-1), Kabengele has totaled 63 in the first four conference contests, placing her and
Alexa Edwards in a tie for first place in the WCC.
The Burlington, Ontario senior also recorded her third-highest hitting percentage in a match this season, registering a .389 while only accumulating two attack errors.
Edwards recorded her team-leading seventh double-double of the season, tallying 10 kills and 13 digs throughout the contest. The junior from Sacramento, Calif., who leads the team and conference with 247 kills, has totaled 10 or more kills in 15 of the 16 matches played this season.
Ramonni Cook also totaled double-digit kills in the win, tallying 11 for a team-high .421 hitting percentage. Adding her 100th kill of the season in the victory, Cook becomes the fourth team member to reach 100 kills as the Tigers have the most kills in the conference with 851.
Setting the tone in the first set, the Tigers only trailed once, 4-3, before rattling off 16 of the following 25 points to gain a commanding 19-13 lead. The Tigers took the early advantage in the match, holding the Gaels to a .175 hitting percentage in the first frame.
Sweeping through the following two sets, the Tigers used an improved defense structure to hold the Gaels to a .134 hitting percentage throughout the match, their third lowest hitting percentage of the season.
"We had to change our defense," Head Coach
Greg Gibbons stated after the match. "The girls have worked hard all week to get to where we are today ... We were more disciplined on defense and kept it much simpler than we were doing previously."
Pacific returns to action on Thursday, Oct. 6, as the Tigers travel to take on #20 Pepperdine in a West Coast Conference at 7 p.m.
