SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Santa Clara volleyball opened the 2015 season with a 25-20, 25-21, 26-24 sweep of visiting Weber State Friday night in the Leavey Center. The Santa Clara Tournament match marked the first time the Broncos opened the season at home since 2004.

After Santa Clara won the first two sets, the Broncos (1-0) and Wildcats (0-2) found themselves tied up 19 times in a tightly-contested third set. Weber State jumped out to a 19-16 lead before Bronco freshman Anna McCreadie recorded three straight kills to level the score. The teams traded the next 10 points on their way to a 24-24 tie, and Santa Clara broke through on a kill by Nikki Hess followed by a combined block from Kirsten Mead and Jensen Cunningham to clinch the match. 

In a back-and-forth first set, the Broncos notched the first three points and Weber State tied up the match by answering with three of their own. Neither team led by more than three until Hess came through with back-to-back kills as part of a 4-0 run that gave the Broncos a 24-19 edge. Hess recorded eight of her match-high 18 kills in the first frame and the Broncos hit .325 as a team.

After a Mead kill put the Broncos within a point of the Wildcats at 9-8 in the second set, Santa Clara called timeout, then won four of the next five points to go ahead 12-10. Natasha Calkins' kill from the right side put the Broncos up 14-12 and Santa Clara led by at least two points the rest of the way. Hailey Lindberg notched the last two Bronco points on kills as Santa Clara won the set by four points.

Mead (38 assists, 11 digs) and Hess (18 kills, 11 digs) each started the new campaign with double-doubles and Cunningham tied for a game-high with four blocks. Senior Danielle Rottman led the team with 12 digs.

The Broncos return to the Leavey Center floor for a Saturday doubleheader featuring an 11 a.m. matchup against Rutgers (0-1) and a 7 p.m. matchup against UC Riverside (2-0).

MATCH NOTES: First serve was at 7:05 p.m. ... time of the match was 1:43 ... attendance was 353.