ATHERTON, Calif. - With half of the California Pacific Conference season gone and second-place Holy Names in town, Menlo College entered Haynes-Prim Pavilion on  Saturday night with a chance to distance itself further from the rest of the conference pack and did so with emphasis.

The Oaks showed power and poise in a 25-22, 25-19, 25-22 victory that gave them a two-game lead in the Cal Pac standings, which should be plenty of breathing room for a squad that has won 21 straight in conference play.

Menlo improves to 7-0 in the Cal Pac and 11-9 overall with five wins in a row against all competition. The Oaks return to action on Friday at 7 p.m. at Mills before returning home for a tilt with Bethany on Senior Night the following evening at the same time. Holy Names is now 5-2 and 7-14, and will likely be in a tie for second place in the conference standings with William Jessup.

If a team can dominate without holding a commanding lead in any game, Menlo did just that against the Hawks. Playing with a shortened bench, the Oaks took each game by the throat during winning time and possibly the Cal Pac regular season along with it.

Trailing 18-16 in game one, Menlo caught fire. Seniors Sarah Poole and Kelsey Bailey had back-to-back kills before setter Stephanie Williamson clocked a Holy names kill attempt for the lead. A Poole block and a hitting error gave the Oaks a 21-18 advantage. The teams traded points until kills from Poole and Deborah Bekowies ended the game.

The second game of the night followed a similar pattern with Menlo and Holy Names trading the lead most of the way. The Oaks trailed by a point when Katie Pendley evened the score with a kill. A Hawks hitting error was followed by kills from Brittany Sudduth and Bekowies for a 17-14 Oaks lead. It was 19-16 Menlo when a Poole kill and a Bailey service ace all but closed the door on Holy Names. Williamson came through with a kill and Bekowies with an emphatic block to put the finishing touches on the game.

For all the drama in the opening two games of the night, the final game was sorely lacking until the very end. Menlo led throughout and was ahead 23-17 when the Hawks scored five straight. Serving with the chance to tie the score, Holy Names was put on notice by a Bailey kill and Williamson snuck a kill into the middle of the Hawks court to end the match.

Williamson did a little bit of everything for Menlo in the pivotal match, finishing with 28 assists, 14 digs, six kills in 11 attempts, and two blocks. Bekowies killed 14 chances for a .400 hitting percentage while Poole had eight blocks and five kills. Bailey totaled eight kills and 15 digs while Pendley tallied seven kills.