SPOKANE, Wash. — The Santa Clara University volleyball team continued its dominance over West Coast Conference foe Gonzaga Thursday, beating the Bulldogs, 3-2 (25-15, 24-26, 22-25, 25-19, 15-11), at the Charlotte Y. Martin Centre for its sixth straight win in the series and ninth in their last 10 meetings.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
- Though the Broncos (10-12, 2-8 WCC) have dominated the series in recent years, Thursday's match was far from a blowout. The contest featured 33 tie scores and 16 lead changes through five sets. The deciding fifth set had five ties and three lead changes on its own. Major momentum swings splashed from one end of the gym to the other like waves.
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- Santa Clara led the second set, 24-22, and could've taken a 2-0 match lead, but the Bulldogs (3-17, 0-9 WCC) scored four consecutive points to come back and win, 26-24, and tie the match at 1-1. The Broncos led set three, 7-1, at the outset, but an 11-3 run put Gonzaga up for good and helped it take a 2-1 match lead. Even the fourth set, which SCU led 23-13 at one point, featured a 6-1 desperation run by GU to make the final set score a more respectable 25-19.
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- Santa Clara stepped up on both sides of the ball when it mattered. The offense hit .304 in the fifth set, while the defense held Gonzaga to only .043 hitting. The Broncos' defense held the Bulldogs to .065, .037 and .043 hitting, respectively, in the sets they won (first, fourth and fifth). The team totaled 76 digs, second-most in a match this season, and had six total blocks.
NOTABLE NUMBERS
- 2: Two Broncos put up double-doubles Thursday. Elena Radeff tallied her first career double-double with a career-high 20 kills and a career-high 16 digs. Sophia Tulino grabbed her first double-double of 2023 with 11 kills and 10 digs.
- 18: Alyssa Eimer collected 18 digs, a season high for her and second-most this year by a Bronco not named Kat Georgiadis. She made her first career start at the libero position Thursday.
- 20: Radeff led all players with a career-high 20 kills, one of three Broncos with double-figure terminations. After never posting a double-digit kills performance in her career, she's had four in her last seven matches, and now has her first 20-kills showing.
NEXT UP
- Santa Clara concludes its road trip to the Pacific Northwest at 1 p.m. Saturday at Portland. Fans can find all live coverage links on the Broncos' schedule page.
