OLYMPIA — It’s been an odd season so far for the Saint Martin’s volleyball team.
The Saints’ first 11 games were played far away from home, with visits to five states, Washington included. Their “home” opener wasn’t until a month into the season, and the Saints were forced to play that game, and every “home” game since, at The Evergreen State College’s Costantino Recreation Center 11 miles away from their own campus due to the ongoing reconstruction at Marcus Pavilion.
Saint Martin's also has to practice on a sports court in the university’s student recreation center rather than a gym floor. But the Saints have adapted to everything that’s been hurled at them.
Coming off of their first win on their temporary “home” floor on Oct. 8 over Alaska Fairbanks, the Saints couldn’t complete the sweep of the GNAC’s Alaska schools and were swept by Alaska Anchorage on Saturday, Oct. 10.
Inconsistency was the culprit for the Saints’ struggles, but they fought back from multiple sizable deficits, including tying the game after trailing by 10 midway through the third set.
“It’s good to see a team never give up and continue to fight. That was really good to see,” Saint Martin’s second-year head coach Haley Domeck said. “I thought we capitalized on their errors in that last set.”
Alaska Anchorage has long been a thorn in the side of Saint Martin’s, as the Seawolves boast a 40-5 all-time record over the Saints, including 11-1 this decade and 6-0 in their last six meetings.
The Seawolves had the Saints’ number in the first chunk of the opening set, rattling off the first five points of the afternoon with three points coming from Saints attack errors. A kill by Zoey Crimin finally put the Saints on the scoreboard and calmed the collective rust off her team, which quickly tied the set at 5-5 and produced three more ties in the frame.
“It took us about 10 points to get into a groove, and once we did that, then we were able to control things on our side of the net,” Domeck said. “That was good to see, but I think we need to do that a little bit sooner.”
Following the fourth tie of the set, Alaska Anchorage separated from Saint Martin’s midway through the stanza and finished off the Saints 25-19.
The opening moments of set two presented a textbook definition of back-and-forth action. By the time the score was 8-8, there had already been eight ties. Every Seawolves point was volleyed by Saint Martin’s until they finally tallied two points in a row to make it 10-8. An attack error by the visitors gave the Saints their first lead of the afternoon at 14-13, and they took their biggest lead of the game at 20-15.
Senior Emily Garten, who recently became the Saints’ all-time points leader, found a groove offensively during that spurt in the second set, but the Seawolves raced back in front with seven unanswered points. A kill from Seawolves middle blocker and Tumwater graduate Bella Burney served as the go-ahead point.
The Saints thought they had a 24-24 tie after an impressive diving save by Tiffany Lam that turned into a kill was challenged and overturned, leading to a 25-23 set-two victory for Alaska Anchorage instead.
Looking for a rally, Saint Martin’s came out sluggish in the third set, allowing nine consecutive points by the Seahawks in a 14-4 deficit. Naomi Rainwater’s first kill of the game sparked a 8-1 response by the Saints, and another 5-1 run, capped off by a Leila Quinn kill, tied the set at 17 apiece.
But the Seawolves’ pin hitters caught fire late as four different players recorded kills in the finishing 8-3 run of a 25-20 set-three win.
Despite the loss, Saints redshirt junior setter Sophie Fast enjoyed her best defensive day of the season with a season-high 16 digs to go along with 24 assists and a block. Garten, a senior, also neared a double-double with a team-high nine kills and nine digs, and she led the Saints with two aces.
“She’s been a huge contributor to this team. Breaking an all-time points record is not a small accomplishment,” Domeck said of Garten. “She is a competitor. She always wants to get better and continue to strive to do her best on and off the court. I’m super proud of her and happy for her, and she’ll be greatly missed.”
The Saints expect to be back at Marcus Pavilion on Oct. 29 to play on their new home court for the first time. That puts them at just three true home games in the regular season, a season that Domeck described as “physically draining.”
“It’s always weird when you’re not playing in your home gym. You’re having to adapt in a kind of a neutral-site environment,” she said. “I think that they have adapted well to that. We’ve had great crowds. But it’s been more physically draining than anything because we’ve been on a sports court and not on a gym floor. That wear and tear builds up, but it’s been a good challenge for us.”
Saint Martin’s (7-10, 3-6 GNAC) will spend one final weekend at Evergreen, starting on Thursday, Oct. 15 against Seattle Pacific and then Friday, Oct. 16 against Montana State Billings. The Saints will then travel out east to Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene the following week before their scheduled debut at the new Marcus Pavilion on Oct. 29.
“It’ll be absolutely beautiful. It’s a brand-new court with the best technology in it,” Domeck said. “It’ll be nice to be back home.”
