SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Getting revenge to split the season series, the University of San Francisco volleyball team (10-10, 3-6 WCC) used a total team effort to take down Saint Mary's (6-11, 3-6 WCC), 3-1, on Thursday night at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.
 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• Matching each other point for point to open the match, USF and SMC were knotted at 10 early in the first set before a 5-0 run by the Dons catapulted the green and gold in front, 15-10. Finding their rhythm early, USF went on to close out the set by tallying five of the final seven points to secure a nine-point, 25-16 victory in set one. 
• Similar to the first set, the two teams remained even to begin set two, this time at 9-9. Shortly thereafter, the Gaels used two kills and an attack error by the Dons to jump in front, 12-9. Answering back, SMC responded by outscoring USF 9-4 down the stretch to take set two, 25-20, and tie the match at 1-1.
• Following the trend of the first two sets, the Dons did not pull away from Saint Mary's in the third set until the midway point, which was highlighted by an 8-1 run that included four straight kills from USF. Defending their home court, the Dons dug deep to grab the third set, 25-19, and go in front, 2-1.
• Despite Saint Mary's grabbing a lead to start the fourth set, USF never faultered as the Dons came together as a team to draw even. After the set was tied at 19 all, USF used four straight kills once more to gain control, 23-19. Closing out the match on a roll, Shyia Richardson tallied back-to-back kills to slam the door on a Gael comeback. Taking the fourth set, 25-22, the Dons improved to .500 overall with a 3-1 win over SMC as the two teams officially split the season series.    

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• Leading the team on both sides of the ball, Richardson (15 kills, 12 digs) and Maria Petkova (15 kills, 10 digs) each recorded double-doubles in the winning effort. Notably, these performances marked the fourth double-double of the season for both Richardson and Petkova.
• For Claire Crijns, the graduate student tallied 13 kills against the Gaels, the eleventh time she has reached double-digit kills.
• As a team, USF outhit SMC (.297-.152) while also leading the Gaels in total kills (58-45), assists (55-43), digs (68-59) and total points (73-53).

POSTGAME WITH THE DONS:

• To view the full highlights of tonight's match, please click here.
• To view the full postgame interview with head coach Diogo Silva, please click here.
• To view the full postgame interview with Maria Petkova, please click here.
• To view the full postgame interview with Lauren Perri, please click here. 

UP NEXT:
USF will head east to the Central Valley as the Dons will play a 3:00 pm matchup at Pacific in Stockton on Saturday afternoon. Live streaming and live statistics are available via the team's schedule page.
 
FOLLOW US:
For more information and updates on the University of San Francisco volleyball program, be sure to follow the Dons on Twitter @USFDonsVB, @USFDonsVB on Instagram and @USFDonsVball on Facebook.
 
SPONSOR THE DONS:
The University of San Francisco Athletics Department would like to acknowledge and thank our primary sponsor - Provident Credit Union - for their continued support of USF Athletics. Interested in sponsoring the Dons? Please contact Frank Allocco, the Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director of External Relations, at fallocco@usfca.edu or at (415) 422-4561.