LACEY, Wash. – The Saint Martin's volleyball team (13-7, 6-4 GNAC) marked their sixth win in GNAC play this season with a 3-1 (25-22, 19-25, 25-21, 25-23) win over Western Oregon (8-10, 2-8 GNAC) on Saturday night. With that mark, the Saints have now won the most conference games in a single season in their GNAC history…with eight more games to go in the year. Another milestone which will continue to mark this team as one of the best in the history of SMU volleyball.
 
A back and forth first set came to an 18-18 scoreline when the Saints took control. A big block by Sirena Peredo and Maddy Gooding made it 20-18, then after a Gooding kill, a Karla Soto ace had it at 22-19. It was Emily Garten that put the finishing touches on will a kill to take the first set. WOU struck back in the second, winning by six.
 
In the third, SMU had two different four-point runs midway through, one with Jennifer Soha serving, the other with Soto serving, to make it 16-12. The Wolves did not go away and were down by just one at 19-18 later in the set. Garten grabbed a kill then Soha and Sota combined for a block. Peredo put the finishing touches on that set, with a kill to win it 25-21.
 
A six-point run by the visitors early in the fourth had Saint Martin's staring a fifth set in the face. Down 13-8, however, the Saints decided to turn on the jets. Emmy Hansen and Gooding combined for a block to send Gooding to serve where the Saints would score EIGHT in a row with her serving. In that run, both Hansen and Garten would have two kills. The Saints then went on another run, this time for five straight, fueled by three kills and block from Soha. Western went on a late run and didn't let it slip away easy, but a Peredo kill put SMU on the cusp, and a service error gave the Saints the win.
 
Garten led the way with 14 kills, Soha had 11 and Hansen had 10. Gooding, Soha, and Soto all had five blocks to lead the defense. Soto dispensed 42 assists, Peredo had 16 digs and Abbey Halstead had 13 digs.
 
The Saints are back at home on Thursday, October 26th when they take on Central Washington at 7 PM at Marcus Pavilion.