LARKSPUR, Calif. – The San Francisco Dons raced out to an early lead to put ninth-ranked Saint Mary's on the ropes Wednesday afternoon. But the Gaels would respond with the last three points of the day to cling to a 4-3 victory at Piper Park.
Despite the defeat, the Dons took their first-ever points from the Gaels in sand, after being held scoreless in two meetings with Saint Mary's during USF's inaugural 2013 season.
"On a gorgeous afternoon in Larkspur, the USF sand team made history by taking down two Gaels pairs, a team that swept us twice last year," co-head coach Eyal Zimet said. "Props deserved to Emily, Inbar, Anja and Becky for bringing us a step closer to a team win. We are very proud of all our players for showing technical and mental progress against a very tough foe. Now, we are looking forward to an extremely busy weekend in Sacramento with three competitions in 24 hours."USF's tandem of
Emily Reed and
Inbar Vinarsky set the tone with a straight-set victory from the No. 5 position. The duo fell behind by a tally of 11-5 after Maegan Conroy's ace forced a Dons' timeout. After the break, USF reeled off six straight to take the lead after Vinarsky pounded down a free ball for the point. The first set was tied at 14-all when a Vinarsky kill on the second touch of the possession gave the Dons the lead for good. Saint Mary's battled to within one after Milena Popovic's cross-court kill put the score at 17-16. After the Gaels again edged close at 19-18, USF took the last two points of the frame capped by an ace from Reed.
Carrying momentum, Reed started off the second with a kill, and the freshman from Sunnyvale, Calif., hit a well-placed serve that couldn't be returned as the Dons edged out to the 6-4 advantage. With the score at 11-10, Reed again went for the powerful kill and followed it up with an ace at the service line. Vinarsky, a sophomore from Hod Hasharon, Israel, gave the duo their largest lead as her attack sent Conroy diving to the back line and gave USF a 17-11 advantage in the set and forced a Saint Mary's timeout. The Dons continued to control the frame, and Vinarsky punctuated the victory with a kill to take the set and the match with a score of 21-13.
For the No. 4 duo of
Rebecca Kopilovitch and
Anja Segota, the battle went to an extra frame and extra points before securing the match point for the Dons. The USF tandem won the first 21-19 before Saint Mary's twosome of Rachel Gillcrist and Mileva Popovic took the second 21-18 to even the match. The third was hotly contested, with neither team able to build a sizeable lead. With the score knotted at 8-8, Popovic's attack sailed out of bounds to give USF the lead and send Segota to the service line. The junior from Pula, Croatia, recorded an ace to put the score at 10-8, and followed it up with a kill. She nabbed her second ace of the set to give the Dons a four-point lead, but Saint Mary's responded to tie the contest at 13, and again at 14 apiece.
The pair from Saint Mary's took their first lead of the match after Popovic's ace put the score at 15-14 in favor of the Gaels. Then Kopilovitch, a senior from Israel, set up Segota for the cross-court kill to the back corner to even the frame. With the set staying even at 16-16, an attack error from Popovic gave the Dons match point. Segota capitalized with a kill at the back line to give the USF duo the 21-19, 18-21, 18-16 win and put the Dons up 2-0 in the overall score.
The Dons looked poised to snatch victory from the nationally-ranked Gaels as the No. 3 pair of
Katarina Pilepic and
Courtney Sabahi took to the sand. The Dons jumped out to a lead in the match, taking the first set 24-22. But the Gaels had other ideas. The duo of Alexis Salmons and Dalas Dodd, playing in her first match of the season under the direction of her father, Olympian Mike Dodd, clawed back to win the second 21-17.
Dodd was first to serve in the decisive third set and put the Gaels up 3-0. The frame stayed close after Sabahi's tip over the net put the score at 6-4 with the visitors still in front. The Dons stalled on seven as Dodd's ace to the back corner made the score 13-7, and Salmons followed up the possession with a kill to double up the score on the Dons. Sabahi staved off the first match point with a kill to the back center line, but after scrambling to return a ball on the second, Salmons was able to pound down a free ball onto an empty court to close the frame.
Saint Mary's went on to win at the Nos. 1 and 2 positions, despite close battles in both matchups. Kristina Graven and Natalie Loos took down USF's
Malina Terrell and
Jurja Vlasic 21-19, 21-15 to even the overall score at 2-2. In the final action of the day, the Gaels' top tandem of Jordan Shaw and Samantha Tinsley finished out
Sara Staengle and
Valentina Zaloznik 21-18, 21-15, as Saint Mary's remained undefeated on the season.
With the win the Gaels improve to 4-0 on the year, and the Dons drop to 1-3 after facing off with three straight opponents that find themselves in the AVCA Top 10. The Dons now stand at 1-1 in the Northern California Sand Volleyball Consortium and have a quick turnaround to regroup.
"I was proud of our team today fighting versus a very strong Saint Mary's team,and falling few points short of a team victory," co-head coach Gilad Doron said. "Inbar and Emily showed that they are a great combination and played more confidently than last week. Becky and Anja showed resiliency when they got pushed, and Kat and Court played very tough versus a very good third and had a chance. Both Jurja and Malina and Val and Sara had chances, and this is what we asking for. With more practice and competition they will be able to come up with more wins. It's amazing to know we are not too far from some of the top 10 teams, going the distance with No. 6 UCLA and No. 9 Saint Mary's, showing that we are building a good foundation for the future."USF travels to Sacramento State to meet up with the Hornets Friday at 6 p.m., and then will compete in a Saturday double-header in Sacramento against Pacific and Cal Poly.
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No. T-9 Saint Mary's 3, San Francisco 2April 2 | Piper Park | Larkspur, Calif.
No. 1 – Jordan Shaw/Samantha Tinsley (SMC) def.
Sara Staengle/
Valentina Zaloznik (USF); 21-18, 21-15
No. 2 – Kristina Graven/Natalie Loos (SMC) def.
Malina Terrell/
Jurja Vlasic (USF); 21-19, 21-15
No. 3 – Dalas Dodd/Alexis Salmons (SMC) def.
Katarina Pilepic/
Courtney Sabahi (USF); 22-24, 21-17, 15-8
No. 4 –
Rebecca Kopilovitch/
Anja Segota (USF) def. Rachel Gillcrist/Mileva Popovic (SMC); 21-19, 18-21, 18-16
No. 5 –
Emily Reed/
Inbar Vinarsky (USF) def. Maegan Conroy/Milena Popovic (SMC); 21-18, 21-13
