Sept. 16, 2005

Box Score

Stanford, CA - Missie Stidham led the way for the Gaels, recording a career-high 20 kills in the Gaels' 3-1 victory over No. 24 UC Santa Barbara on Friday night in their second match of the Stanford Invitational. Stidham added 10 digs, two aces and hit .255 for the match as No. 23 Saint Mary's improved to 7-2 on the season.

Saint Mary's dropped Game 1 to the Gauchos, but turned on the defense the rest of the way, recording 26 total blocks compared to Santa Barbara's seven. The Gaels also held the Gauchos to a .149 hitting percentage.

Behind Stidham's 20 kills, Kaui Salzman recorded 16 kills with a .306 hitting percentage and added 10 digs and Cassandra Kolkka added a double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs. Christina Kirk matched a career-high with 11 kills and added five blocks and Brittany Barker had five kills and nine blocks. Mandy Bible set the pace with 52 assists and added 11 digs for her fourth double-double of the season.

As a team the Gaels hit .320 and recorded 65 kills, 57 digs and 10 aces. Freshman Lyndsey Parker had 11 digs and Taylor Groess had one ace and two digs off the bench.

The Gaels will wrap up the Stanford Invitational against Utah State at 7 p.m. on Saturday night at Maples Pavilion.

In Game 1, the Gaels fell behind 11-4 to open the game before taking their first timeout. The Gaels battled back to cut the lead to 16-13, forcing UC Santa Barbara to take its first timeout. Saint Mary's took its second lead of the game 25-24, but the Gauchos scored three straight points, forcing the Gaels to take their final timeout. UC Santa Barbara went on to win the first game 30-28. Saint Mary's was led by Salzman in the opening game, who had six kills. Stidham had four kills and four digs and Kirk and Kolkka had three kills each. The Gaels hit .233 as a team and the Gauchos hit .171.

In the second game, both teams rallied back-and-forth playing to a 14-14 tie. The Gaels scored the next three points, taking a 17-14 lead before UC Santa Barbara called its first timeout. The Gaels continued their strong play, taking a 28-20 lead before the Gauchos called their final timeout. Saint Mary's went on to win the second game 30-20. The Gaels were led by Stidham and Barker in the second game. Stidham recorded five kills and Barker dominated the net, recording six blocks. Saint Mary's held the Gauchos to a .056 hitting percentage and the Gaels hit .379 in the game.

In Game 3, both teams played evenly to a 13-13 tie, before the Gaels took a 17-14 lead and the Gauchos took their first timeout. Saint Mary's continued to lead, taking a 22-17 advantage, before UC Santa Barbara took its final timeout. The Gaels continued to lead 28-23, before the Gauchos scored two points and Saint Mary's took its first timeout. The Gaels went on to win the third game 30-27. Saint Mary's was led by Stidham, who had six kills and four digs and Bible had 14 assists and two kills. Salzman, Kolkka and Kirk each had three kills in the game.

In the fourth game, the Gaels jumped out to an early 10-4 lead, but the Gauchos rallied back to tie the game 12-12 before the Gaels called their first timeout. Saint Mary's gained momentum out of the timeout and carried a 25-19 lead before the Gauchos broke the Gaels' run with two straight points. The Gaels went on to win the game 30-22.