LACEY, Wash. – With two outstanding performances from their middle blockers Gracie Brenner, and Jennifer Soha, the Saints earned their first home victory of the 2021 with a 3-1 result over Linfield on Tuesday night.
 
The two proved to be an unstoppable force up the middle that the Wildcats (4-5) could never find an answer for. Brenner filled up the stat sheet with eight kills on 15 swings, along with seven digs, five blocks, and three aces. Soha, getting the start tonight, was a force at the net, collecting eight kills, and six blocks.
 
Saint Martin's (6-5) fell behind early in the opening set, 12-8, before using a 6-0 run to regain the lead and the momentum. The Saints held the slight lead throughout most of the set until Linfield scored three straight to tie it up at 23-23. A kill from Tia Allen, one of her match-leading 16, along with a combo block from Soha, and Emily Gooding sealed the set one victory.
 
Linfield managed to answer back in the second set, tying the match at 1-1 with a 25-23 result.
 
However, the Saints' offense came alive in the third set, and SMU never looked back. The Saints went off for 15 kills on 38 swings for a .289 hitting percentage to rout the Wildcats 25-13.
 
The offense only got better in the fourth and final set, busting out for 16 kills on 32 swings for an outstanding .344 hitting percentage. Saint Martin's clinched the match with a 25-17 fourth set.
 
Giselle Benetti once again led the backline with 24 digs, followed by Allen at 12, and Kylie Alos at 10. The Saints as a team collected 10 aces, led by Alos and Brenner at three.
 
Saint Martin's returns to GNAC action on Saturday, September 25 on the road at Western Oregon. Live stats and streaming of the match will be available on smusaints.com.