Live Stats/Live Video – Live Stats of Saint Martin's Volleyball Games will be available with links found on smusaints.com. Live Video is TBA on a game-to-game basis. Live stats and video will be produced by the Host School.
Social Media – Follow the Saints on Twitter (@smusaints_vb) for in game updates and follow SMU Athletics on Facebook (Saint Martin's Saints), Twitter (SMUSaints), Instagram (SMUSaints).
Ticket Information – All Saint Martin’s home games tickets can be purchased online at smusaints.com. Skip the line at the gate by purchasing online, saving your digital ticket, and scanning it at the door!
Saints Digital Network – The Saints Digital Network on YouTube is your home all Saint Martin's Athletics. Live stats and video broadcast are available of every home game this season for free and can be found on smusaints.com.
Projected Starting Lineup –
OH | Tia Allen | 171 Kills | 202.5 Points | 160 Digs |
OH | Ilana Sagapolutele | 78 Kills | 83.5 Points | 21 Digs |
RS | Emily Gooding | 126 Kills | 140.0 Points | 25 Blocks |
MB | Gracie Brenner | 66 Kills | 87.0 Points | 25 Blocks |
MB | Maddy Gooding | 47 Kills | 80.5 Points | 44 Blocks |
S | Analise Hitchcock | 318 Assists | 10 Aces | 81 Digs |
L | Giselle Benetti | 15 Assists | 13 Aces | 190 Digs |
Saints Fall To I-5 Rival Seattle Pacific - The Saints' offense was unable to find the flow they had last week, suffering a 3-0 defeat on the road to Seattle Pacific on Thursday night.
Emily Gooding and Tia Allen led the Saints' (7-6, 1-3) with eight kills each, but SMU was never able to clinch a set off the Falcons (7-5, 3-2). Saint Martin's and SPU went the distance in the third set, rallying back-and-forth until the Falcons managed to seal the match on a kill, and an SMU error.
Yellowjackets Silence Saints In Billings - The Saints offense slowly heated up but not quick enough as SMU fell in straight sets to Montana State Billings 25-12, 25-23, 25-23.
The Saints (7-7, 1-4) struggled to a -.143 hitting percentage in the first set, but improved to a .140 in the second set, and finally a .279 in the final set. However, the Yellowjackets (6-8, 3-3) never let off the pressure, hitting .351 as a team to pick up the home win.
Saints' VB Named GNAC Co-Team of the Week - An undefeated weekend, tournament MVP, two All-Tournament selections, and now the Saints' Volleyball team is the GNAC Co-Team of the Week on September 7. Off to their best start in five years, the Saints swept through their opponents in Billings to share the Team of the Week with Simon Fraser volleyball, who also went 4-0 in their tournament.
M-V-P M-V-P Chants! - No defense had an answer for the electric freshman Tia Allen, who finished with 58 kills in the tournament. Allen collected 4.53 points per set and led the team total with 72.5 points. Her eight service aces also ranked the best on the team. Not only did Allen dominate on the offensive side, she also was second on the team in digs at 53, and blocks at 10. She was named the Yellowjacket Invitational MVP.
GNAC Player of the Week - Kylie Alos, who was named to the Yellowjacket Invitational All-Tournament team after helping the Saints went 4-0 on the weekend. Anchoring the back line, Alos finished the weekend with 89 digs total, with a 5.56 digs per set average. In three of the four matches, Alos recorded 20+ digs, including a best of 28 against Bemidji State in four sets. It marked the first of her career.
0 To 100 Real Quick – Head coach Dan Behnke collected his 100th career win in just 157 matches with the Saints’ victory over Hawai’i Hilo on September 10.
Best Start In Program History – For the first time since the Saints’ joined the NCAA in 1998, SMU volleyball opened their season undefeated in their first five matches.
Leading The GNAC – Entering the week, Saint Martin’s ranks first in the GNAC in digs per set at 18.02, ahead of Northwest Nazarene’s 17.49. Saint Martin’s also ranks fourth in opponent hitting percentage, limiting teams to only .158.
Among The Best In The West – Entering the week, Tia Allen ranks kills in points per set (3.82), and sixth in kills per set (3.23), and tenth in service aces (0.36) in the GNAC. Giselle Benetti sits fourth in digs per set (4.32). Kylie Alos is seventh in digs per set (4.02). Maddy Gooding ranks eighth in blocks per set (1.02).
Career Night – Against Western Oregon, where the Saints comeback to win in five sets, Emily Gooding registered a career-high 18 kills, and 19 points. Ilana Sagapolutele finished with a career-high 17 kills, and Giselle Benetti had a career-high 34 digs.
Saints Are Killin’ It – The Saints’ 69 kills against Western Oregon was the most by any SMU team since 2017 when the Saints put up 72 in a five-set victory over Central Washington.
New Era – Saint Martin's volleyball begins a new era as Dan Behnke takes over as head coach. Behnke was hired back in February of 2020 and comes to SMU after coaching for five seasons at NAIA Huston-Tillotson University in Austin, Texas. During his time at Huston-Tillotson, Behnke went 94-52, including a 75-20 in the last three years. Prior to his arrival, Huston-Tillotson went 16-145 in a five-year span.
Sister Connection – The Gooding sisters looked right in sync from the very beginning. Maddy Gooding tallied 20 kills, a team-leading 21 blocks, and six service aces over the MSUB tournament. Meanwhile, Emily Gooding was third on the team at 40 kills, along with nine blocks.
Meet The New Saints –
2 | Abigail Halstead | DS/L | 5-7 | FR | San Antonio, TX / Louis D Brandeis |
3 | Mahina Pescaia | S | 5-8 | FR | Kailua, HI / Kamehameha Schools Maui |
4 | Tia Allen | OH | 5-11 | FR | Clayton, WA / Mt. Spokane HS |
21 | Jennifer Soha | MB | 6-0 | FR | Reno, NV / Green Valley HS |
26 | Kayla May | L | 5-5 | FR | Fairview, OR / Troutdale HS |