SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco volleyball team once again showed fight Thursday against its East Bay rival Saint Mary's, but the Gaels were able to hold on for their second four-set victory over the Dons, this time a 3-1 (25-17, 25-21, 22-25, 25-19) West Coast Conference win at War Memorial at Sobrato Center.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The two teams also went four sets last month in Moraga, with two of the sets determined by just two points. San Francisco (8-12, 1-8 WCC) continued to get stronger Thursday as the match went along. USF only led 1-0 in the opening set and was able to tie it on three other occasions, but Saint Mary's (14-5, 6-3 WCC) pulled away each time and won going away, 25-17, with its best single-set hitting performance of the night at .351.
   
• Things were not so easy in the second for SMC, as USF took leads and continued to make charges all set long. The Dons ran off eight straight points early with Ally Wada serving through the run, notching two service aces, two assists and a kill along the way to put the Dons ahead 11-6. Saint Mary's regained a 15-13 lead with a 9-2 stretch, but again back came the Dons with four straight points, this time with their other setter, Erin Anthony, serving for the short run that included back-to-back kills from Lena Bondar. Saint Mary's knocked on the door of victory with a 22-18 lead, but still USF competed, making it 23-21 with kills from Sophie Sydenham and Marjolijn Oskam before falling 25-21.
   
• Things finally came together for San Francisco in the third set. USF rattled off seven straight points to start the frame and take a 7-0 lead. Sydenham logged three consecutive kills during the opening run. Oskam and Emily Zinger also got in on the action with kills. When Saint Mary's tried to come back, making it a three-point set at 16-13, Kathya Garcia put a stop to it with a kill. The Gaels gave it one last effort towards the end of the set. San Francisco led 23-16, and SMC went on a 6-1 run to make it 24-22. But Oskam accented the set victory for USF with a kill from the middle, making it a 2-1 match score.
   
• Saint Mary's outlasted the Dons in set four. The Gaels never trailed in the final set, but they also never scored any more than four points in a row, and that only happened once. San Francisco continued to score throughout the set, only falling 25-19 in the end. USF held SMC to just .250 hitting in the fourth frame after holding it to .241 in the third.

COACH LAVRISHA QUOTES

• We were up in the third set, and then (Saint Mary's) was making their little run, and you could just see the (disappointment). So I just said, 'Hey you guys, this is our set. Let's go!'"
   
• We got some great serving performances, Ally on that one run early, and then Anna (Dalla Vecchia) had a nice run for the other streak.
   
• Lena's more aggressive. We saw it all week. She's been great in practice. Saturday, when she came in and ripped five kills in a row, ever since then she has been on fire. Every practice she's been on it.
   
• Just having Kathya back gives us a little bit more confidence on the court, some maturity. She helps the passers in the lane. She and Anna really compliment each other. McKenna (Marshall) helped us in the lanes. She was our best passer tonight.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 6th: Anthony notched her sixth double-double of the season with a team-high 20 assists and 13 digs. Three other Dons (Bondar, 14 kills, 9 digs; Dalla Vecchia, 8 assists, 11 digs; Garcia, 8 kills, 10 digs) were just one or two stats away from also having double-doubles.
• 8: The Dons tied a season high with eight service aces Thursday. Dalla Vecchia, Garcia and Wada had two each. Bondar and Sydenham also tallied aces.
• 14: Bondar's team-best 14 kills were a season high for her. She also had a season-high nine digs, narrowly missing a double-double.

COMING UP

• The Dons host Pacific at noon on Saturday for the teams' first matchup of the year. The match also marks the beginning of the second half of the schedule, while wrapping up a four-match home stand for USF.
   
• Fans can purchase tickets and find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.