SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The Santa Clara University volleyball team showed fight early during Saturday's West Coast Conference match versus Pacific, tying it at 1-1 heading to the third set, but the visiting Tigers were able to pull away in the later sets with efficient hitting and a staunch block up front to beat the Broncos, 3-1 (25-21, 21-25, 25-17, 25-13), at Leavey Center.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
- Santa Clara (9-12, 1-8 WCC) hit .310 on its way to winning the second set, 25-21. The set victory was a comeback one of sorts. The Broncos trailed, 15-13, midway through, then cranked things up with a 9-1 run that put them way ahead at 22-16. Five Pacific attack errors helped fuel SCU's surge. The Tigers (13-8, 5-3 WCC) hit under .300 in the second set (.263), the only set they'd do so.
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- Pacific rebounded in set three to grab a 2-1 match advantage with a 25-17 win. It hit .417 in the third alone. The Tigers' serve game also started to come on late, logging all five of their service aces Saturday in the third and fourth sets. Pacific rolled its momentum into the fourth, winning 25-13. The front row defense made its presence felt with four blocks in the set, including the final point of the match. The offense also continued to roll, hitting .375.
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- The match very well could have flipped completely, with Santa Clara still leading the first set as late as 17-16, and the teams tied at 18-18. But the Tigers' offense rose to the occasion, erasing a two-point, 17-15 deficit with a 10-4 run to close out the frame and take a 1-0 early match lead. That run was powered by eight kills from five different players, three from Alexa Edwards alone, who was one of four Tigers with double-digit terminations Saturday.
NOTABLE NUMBERS
- .500: Anna Stucchi turned in a top-five career hitting percentage Saturday two days after setting a career high with 10 kills. She led Santa Clara with a .500 hitting percentage while putting down seven kills. It was the fifth-best of her career when having at least seven kills.
- 12: Elena Radeff led Santa Clara with 12 kills while hitting .267. After never posting a double-digit kills match in her career, she's had three such performances in her last six matches.
- 65: Pacific had four players with double-digit kills and totaled 65 kills as a team. It's the most kills by a Santa Clara opponent this season, and most since Northern Colorado had 67 in a four-set match the Broncos won last season on Sept. 17, 2022.
POST-MATCH COMMENTS
NEXT UP
- Santa Clara makes its annual trip to the Pacific Northwest next week. There, it'll face Gonzaga on Thursday and Portland on Saturday. Fans can find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.
