VB | Gaels Tie Program Record for Best Conference Start with Four Set Win Over Denver

Thursday, October 22

Moraga, CA

6:30 PM

Saint Mary's College of California

13-8,8-1WCC

Denver

10-10,3-5WCC

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Denver	20	25	18	19	1
Saint Mary's (CA)	25	17	25	25	3

Sadie White: 10 Kills, 13 Attempts, 0 Errors, 37 Assists, 3 Ace

Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner

10/22/2026 10:49:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Highlights

MORAGA, Calif. — After back-to-back five set thrillers a week ago, the Saint Mary's volleyball team was able to get off their feet a bit earlier than usual on Thursday evening, defeating the Denver Pioneers 3-1. The win keeps the Gaels alone in first place in the WCC at 8-1, matching their best start in conference play in program history.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Saint Mary's set the tone early, taking a 10-5 lead in set one, and riding that all the way to a 25-20 set victory. The Gaels hit an astonishing 0.417 in the opening frame, as Antonie Kelnarova logged nine kills on 12 swings and just one error. The Gaels and Pioneers played to an early 4-4 stalemate in set two, but a pair of Denver aces gave them momentum that they carried through the end of the set, leveling things at one apiece heading into the intermission.

The Gaels never trailed in set three, extending an early lead out to double-digits at 17-7. Denver re-found their footing late to make things a bit tighter, but ultimately dropped the third, 25-18, as Saint Mary's led wire to wire coming out of the break. Antonie Kelnarova was back to doing the heavy lifting for the Gaels in the third after a quiet set two, going for six kills and five digs.

Denver threw the first punch in the fourth and eventual final set, taking an early 2-0 lead, but the Gaels weathered the early storm via a 12-5 run, and saw out the victory 25-19, taking the match by a score of three sets to one. Kelnarova put the cherry on top of a career night with eight more kills in the final frame on 11 swings and just one error, while Ava Galvan and Sadie White combined to go for a perfect eight kills on eight attempts.

GAME NOTES

Saint Mary's tied their program record best start in conference play, now at 8-1. The Gaels remain in first place in the WCC by half a game.
The Gaels went for 64 kills against the Pioneers as a team, their second highest total this season, and their highest in a four set match since Aug. 28, 2016 against North Dakota State, when they had 67.
Antonie Kelnarova led the charge with a career-high 26 kills. Her 26 kills are the second most in a four set match by a single player in program history, and the tenth most by a single player in any match in program history.
Kelnarova added 11 digs for her ninth double-double of the season.
The Prague, Czechia native now has surpassed 300 kills for the season, matching program greats Kristina Graven and Jordan Shaw as the fastest players since 2010 to reach that mark (21 matches).
Joining in on the career-high and double-double train was setter Sadie White, who went for a career-high 10 kills on 13 attempts without an error (0.769 clip) to go along with 37 assists and a team-best three aces for her seventh double-double and her first kill-assist double-double.
Ava Galvan rounded out the trio of double-digit killers with 10, marking the first time in her career that she has had back-to-back double-digit kill performances.
Fellow middle blocker Anaya Thrower had a career-high four solo blocks.

QUOTABLE

UP NEXT
The Gaels will host San Diego on Saturday, October 24 inside UCU Pavilion. First serve is set for 2 p.m. Get your tickets at smcgaels.com/tickets or watch live on ESPN+.

Don't miss a second of Saint Mary's Volleyball action in 2026! Tickets are on sale here!

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