STOCKTON, Calif.- The Pacific volleyball team (12-8, 4-4 WCC) hosted Saint Mary's (11-9, 5-3 WCC) for its Dig Pink Night at the Alex G. Spanos Center. After jumping out to a 2-0 set lead, the Tigers looked poised to earn another victory at home, but the Gaels didn't back down. Saint Mary's took the match to a fifth set and while the Tigers fought hard, they dropped a heartbreaker final set, falling 3-2 at home.
Both teams performed roughly even, with Saint Mary's hitting .182 through five sets and the Tigers hitting .127. Though it was quite evenly matched, what upset the Tigers were the 15 service aces that the Gaels collected over the duration of the night. Seven came in the third set alone, with Saint Mary's adding another five in the fourth.
In the fifth set, the two teams started out trading scores, but then the Gaels went out to a 12-7 lead. After a time out by Pacific, the Tigers rattled off three points to pull within two. Saint Mary's notched a point off a kill, but a service error by the Gaels poised the Tigers perfectly for a 3-0 run. Cemented by a kill by senior
Alexa Edwards to overtake the lead 14-13, the Tigers forced match point.
When Saint Mary's responded, so did the Tigers, as the fifth set saw six ties and five lead changes. However, the Gaels went on a 5-2 run to end the game and took the final set 18-16 to win the match.
Edwards led the Tigers with 17 kills, while hitting .250 and notching two service aces. Fifth year senior
Biamba Kabengele tallied 16 kills on the night and added three service aces of her own.
Rounding out the Tiger offense was junior
Jenna Heller, who led both teams in assists, collecting 39 assists on the night. She also notched six kills to tie her season high.
Kabengele proved to be a threat on both sides of the ball, recording 14 digs for a season high. Junior
Megan Nishimura added 14 digs of her own, while also making the diving save en route to a kill, her first kill of the year as the Tiger libero.
The Tigers have some time to shake off the heartbreak as they travel to Santa Clara for another conference matchup. They take on the Broncos on Saturday, Oct. 21 at 1 p.m. in Santa Clara, Calif.
