Box Score
MORAGA, Calif. – The offense couldn't get going as the San Francisco volleyball team fell to Saint Mary's in straight sets at McKeon Pavilion Saturday afternoon.
The Dons were held to .162 hitting on the day and finished with just 29 total kills in the 3-0 defeat by the Gaels. USF's offensive bright spot came from junior
Valentina Zaloznik, who finished with a team-high eight kills on 16 attempts with no errors. Her .500 attack percentage was also a team best. Senior
Mackenzie Murtagh finished with a team-high 17 assists, along with 10 digs to notch her sixth double-double of the season.
USF started the first in a deficit as the Gaels reeled off the first five points of the match with Dalas Dodd at the serve, but a few points later, the Dons answered with a 6-2 run of its own to pull within one.
Katarina Pilepic stuffed a Saint Mary's attack to put the score at 12-11 in favor of the Gaels. The set remained close and saw its lone tie as
Anja Segota earned a solo block to knot the score at 16. After a Segota kill, the Dons were down 20-19 late in the frame, but Saint Mary's responded with a 5-1 run to finish the set, 25-20.
The Dons dropped the second set by a score of 25-17 to head into the halftime break. After the rest period, USF battled to extend the match. USF took the early lead in the set, starting off with a block from Zaloznik and Pilepic, followed by a service ace from Murtagh. USF saw its largest lead of the day after a Pilepic kill put the frame at 6-4 in favor of the Dons. Saint Mary's would come back to tie the game at 6-6, 7-7, 8-8 and finally 11-11 before the Gaels put together a 7-1 scoring string to regain momentum in the match. Saint Mary's eventually won the day's final frame 25-17 to finish out the match.
With the loss, the Dons move to 11-15 (7-9 WCC) on the year while Saint Mary's improves to 15-9 (11-5 WCC) as the two teams split the season series.
The Dons will close the 2013 regular season campaign with a pair of home matches. First, USF will take on Pepperdine Thursday at 7 p.m., before honoring the senior class at Saturday's 1 p.m., matinee against Loyola Marymount.
