Weber State University Athletics
Saturday, August 26
Ogden
3:30 PM
Weber State University
2-1,0-0Big Sky
2
vs
3
Saint Mary's
3-0,0-0WCC
1
2
3
4
5
F
Saint Mary's (CA)
25
19
25
26
15
3
Weber St.
21
25
20
28
9
2
Photo by: Robert Casey
Scrappy Wildcats Force Fifth Set, Fall to Gaels in Tournament Championship
8/26/2023 7:16:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
OGDEN – Despite a dramatic come-from-behind victory in a fourth set that went to extra points, the Weber State Wildcats fell in five sets to St. Mary's in the Wildcat Invitational championship match.
The Gaels stormed Swenson Gym and took a quick 1-0 lead after winning the first set 25-21. Dani Richins led the way for the Wildcats with four kills, Baylee Bodily and Mia Peterson each tallied three kills in the first set, as well.
WSU came clawing back in the next frame, however. Led by five kills from Bodily – who is looking extremely comfortable hitting from the pins – the Wildcat attack sliced through the Gael defense en route to a 25-19 set victory.
St. Mary's regained its match lead by nabbing the third set from Weber State. The 'Cats were led by Ashley Gneiting who had four kills on ten swings and chipped in 1.5 blocks on the defensive side of things.
With their backs against the wall in a must-win fourth set, the Wildcats mustered an answer that appeared to turn the tide of the match in WSU's favor. St. Mary's had several match points with a 24-22 lead in what could have been the match's final set, but a Richins kill followed by a St. Mary's error knotted the count up at 24.
The Gael offense scored again to give SMC its third match point of the set, but Kate Standifird dissected the St. Mary's defense with surgeon-like precision and distributed the ball flawlessly to Gneiting and Richins on back-to-back plays to give Weber State a 26-25 advantage. A Wildcat attacking error squared the score at 26, but a big swing from Jayda Tupea followed by another Bodily kill – one of her 17 kills on the match – clinched the fourth set for Weber State, sent the raucous Swenson Gym crowd into a frenzy, and forced a match-deciding fifth set.
Despite several long rallies, ebbs and flows, St. Mary's was finally able to find its rhythm and closed out the fifth set to steal the match with a 15-9 win, clinching the Wildcat Invitational title.
NOTABLES
-This was the 10th time in the Richins' storied career that she has scored 20 or more kills in a match.
-Standifird's 56 assists set a new career high for most assists in a match, outpacing the 51 assists she had against Idaho State in September of last season.
-Weber State out-blocked SMC 12.0-11.0, and won the blocking battle in all three of its Wildcat Invitational matches.
-Bodily's incredible offensive night featured 17 kills on a career-high 36 attempts for a staggering .361 hitting percentage from the pins.
QUOTABLES
"I like the starting point of this season. If we can keep on growing through this season and not 'going' through the season, I think we'll progress to where we want to be, and that's pretty big. I feel a lot better today than I did yesterday. (This start has) given us some confidence that when we're in the right mindset we can compete at a pretty high level which we are going to need for next week's opponents." – Jeremiah Larsen
UP NEXT
Weber State has a massive week ahead as the Wildcats travel to Logan to face off against Utah State on Thursday, August 31. They return to Swenson Gym for home matches against Loyola Marymount on September 1 at 5 PM, and September 2 versus UNLV at 2 PM. All home and Big Sky Conference matches can be seen on ESPN+.
TICKETS
Season and single match tickets are on sale and can be purchased online or by calling the Weber State ticket office at 801-626-8500.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Make sure to follow Weber State volleyball on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter to stay up to date with everything happening with the Wildcats.
The Gaels stormed Swenson Gym and took a quick 1-0 lead after winning the first set 25-21. Dani Richins led the way for the Wildcats with four kills, Baylee Bodily and Mia Peterson each tallied three kills in the first set, as well.
WSU came clawing back in the next frame, however. Led by five kills from Bodily – who is looking extremely comfortable hitting from the pins – the Wildcat attack sliced through the Gael defense en route to a 25-19 set victory.
St. Mary's regained its match lead by nabbing the third set from Weber State. The 'Cats were led by Ashley Gneiting who had four kills on ten swings and chipped in 1.5 blocks on the defensive side of things.
With their backs against the wall in a must-win fourth set, the Wildcats mustered an answer that appeared to turn the tide of the match in WSU's favor. St. Mary's had several match points with a 24-22 lead in what could have been the match's final set, but a Richins kill followed by a St. Mary's error knotted the count up at 24.
The Gael offense scored again to give SMC its third match point of the set, but Kate Standifird dissected the St. Mary's defense with surgeon-like precision and distributed the ball flawlessly to Gneiting and Richins on back-to-back plays to give Weber State a 26-25 advantage. A Wildcat attacking error squared the score at 26, but a big swing from Jayda Tupea followed by another Bodily kill – one of her 17 kills on the match – clinched the fourth set for Weber State, sent the raucous Swenson Gym crowd into a frenzy, and forced a match-deciding fifth set.
Despite several long rallies, ebbs and flows, St. Mary's was finally able to find its rhythm and closed out the fifth set to steal the match with a 15-9 win, clinching the Wildcat Invitational title.
NOTABLES
-This was the 10th time in the Richins' storied career that she has scored 20 or more kills in a match.
-Standifird's 56 assists set a new career high for most assists in a match, outpacing the 51 assists she had against Idaho State in September of last season.
-Weber State out-blocked SMC 12.0-11.0, and won the blocking battle in all three of its Wildcat Invitational matches.
-Bodily's incredible offensive night featured 17 kills on a career-high 36 attempts for a staggering .361 hitting percentage from the pins.
QUOTABLES
"I like the starting point of this season. If we can keep on growing through this season and not 'going' through the season, I think we'll progress to where we want to be, and that's pretty big. I feel a lot better today than I did yesterday. (This start has) given us some confidence that when we're in the right mindset we can compete at a pretty high level which we are going to need for next week's opponents." – Jeremiah Larsen
UP NEXT
Weber State has a massive week ahead as the Wildcats travel to Logan to face off against Utah State on Thursday, August 31. They return to Swenson Gym for home matches against Loyola Marymount on September 1 at 5 PM, and September 2 versus UNLV at 2 PM. All home and Big Sky Conference matches can be seen on ESPN+.
TICKETS
Season and single match tickets are on sale and can be purchased online or by calling the Weber State ticket office at 801-626-8500.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Make sure to follow Weber State volleyball on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter to stay up to date with everything happening with the Wildcats.
Team Stats
SMC
Weber
Kills
70
67
Errors
24
23
Attempts
158
168
Hitting %
.291
.262
Points
88.0
84.0
Assists
68
61
Aces
7
5
Blocks
11
12
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
20
Aces
2
Blocks
0
Kills
17
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
12
Aces
2
Blocks
2
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
OPP
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's Volleyball
OH/DS
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