SAN FRANCISCO – Back on their home turf and hungry for victory, the San Francisco volleyball team got straight to business in a three-set sweep of Saint Mary's Thursday night at War Memorial Gym.

The Dons (16-6, 3-6 WCC) trailed but once in the match, and turned the Gaels (6-13, 1-8 WCC) away after a decisive victory. The USF win evens the all-time series with Saint Mary's at 38 apiece as the Dons close out the first half of conference play.

"We started well with our defensive effort," noted head coach Gilad Doron. "We slowed their offense and everyone got involved early in our offense. We passed the ball well and for us that is the winning formula. If you pass the ball well, you can spread the ball and playing good defense you're going to have a shot against anybody. I liked our team approach today so hopefully we can build on it and get the confidence we need for the second round of WCC play."

USF junior Katarina Pilepic led all scorers with 13 kills on the night to go along with 11 digs for her fourth double-double of the year. Oluoma Okaro hit an efficient .571 for the Dons to finish with 10 kills, and Sara Stangle put down nine points on .500 hitting to help the offensive charge. Kiara McKibben and Jurja Vlasic combined for 40 of USF's 47 assists, and libero Kim Gutierrez was back on the court after a week off to finish with 11 digs and seven assists.

"Having Kim back helps with our confidence in the back court and the space that she can cover, the passing that she can do," said Doron. "It makes everybody around her play a little more relaxed and that's what good players do. I don't think she was close to where she wanted to be, but it was good enough today. Hopefully, she can continue to get healthier and stronger and our team can build confidence from here."

The night started with McKibben at the serve as USF rolled off the first four points of the match. The Dons build the lead to six points after Okaro's attack off the assist from Vlasic put the score at 12-6. The Gaels rallied to close to 16-14 with Payton Rund at the service line, but Saint Mary's could get no closer. The Dons extended to 24-20 off the kill from Madison Murtagh before taking the set 25-21.

The second frame began much like the first, as the USF offense was sparked by four Pilepic kills in the first seven points of the set as the Dons opened with the 6-1 advantage. USF continued to cruise after Murtagh and Courtney Sabahi combined for the block to make it 15-8, but the Gaels would again rally. Lindsey Calvin's service ace put the score at 17-15 in favor of the Dons, but USF would pull away 25-18 to earn the set.

After halftime, the Dons and Gaels were locked in a battle and USF's advantage was 10-9 after Mary Hernandez took the second-touch kill to catch the defense unaware. The Saint Mary's offense stalled at nine as USF expanded the lead to five after back-to-back kills for Jessica Gaffney, and USF went on to ease to the 25-21 win to take the set and the match in sweeping fashion.

"We hit as a team .324 and that's where we wanted to be," said Doron. "Obviously, if we can hit that way, we will have good shots to beat teams. Saturday is going to be another battle of the Bay with a very tough game against Pacific.

"We felt that we gave a pretty good match up there and having them here will be a test to see how much better we got from that point to now. We have things we've worked on, they have things they've worked on and hopefully we can have another performance like tonight and come with another important win."

USF and Pacific went the distance in Stockton, before the Tigers nipped the Dons 3-2. The two squads meet again Saturday at War Memorial Gym, with first serve slated for 1 p.m.