SAN JOSE, Calif. — The Santa Clara University volleyball team capped a perfect opening weekend Sunday with a road sweep against South Bay rival San Jose State, beating the Spartans, 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-18) at Spartan Gym on the final day of the Santa Clara/SJSU Invitational.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Broncos (4-0) trailed by multiple points in both of the first two sets, but were able to put together late runs to win both and take a commanding 2-0 match lead.
• San Jose State (2-1) led 13-9 in the first set and still held a 20-18 advantage late. Santa Clara responded by scoring seven of the last nine points of the set to win 25-22.
• The Spartans led 11-9 in the second frame, and the Broncos again answered with a 16-5 run to blow past SJSU and take a 2-0 match lead thanks to a 25-16 set victory.
• The Broncos never trailed in the third, getting out to huge leads of 11-2 and 16-4 to never look back and march on to the sweep. Everything was working in the third, as the defense locked down the Spartans with 18 digs, and the offense had their most kills of any set in the match with 11.
• Santa Clara had 31 kills, totaled six blocks and averaged 12 digs per set. The Broncos also tallied 10 service aces, the third time in four matches this weekend they've had double-digit aces.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 6: Anna Stucchi served up six aces. It tied a career high for her, and was the second time this weekend a Bronco had six aces. Sophia Tulino also had six Friday versus CSUN. Stucchi and Tulino's totals are the most aces by a Bronco since Michelle Shaffer had seven at Saint Mary's on Sept. 28, 2021.
• 10: Sophia Tulino led all players with 10 kills. It was her third double-digit kills performance of the weekend.
• .110: Santa Clara hit only .110 Sunday, but the defense controlled the host Spartans from the start, holding them to a .035 hitting percentage. The serve receive was also strong, only giving up three aces to SJSU.

SANTA CLARA/SJSU INVITATIONAL ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

• Anna Stucchi, MB (Santa Clara)
• Lia Okammor, MB (Santa Clara)
• Sophia Tulino, OH (Santa Clara)
• Nive Tuileta, S (Santa Clara)
• Nayeli Ti'a, OH (San Jose State)
• Blaire Fleming, OH (San Jose State)
• Claire Mrukowski, OH (Jacksonville)
• Michalina Rola, OH (California Baptist)

POSTGAME COMMENTS

• Head Coach Erin Lindsey
  "Our team was ready to play today. We knew San Jose State would be fired up for the cross-town rivalry and coming off two wins. We came in very composed and focused on executing our side of the net. I thought our team stayed together and aggressive in a tough environment."

NEXT UP

• Santa Clara takes its undefeated record to the East Coast next week, heading to Villanova University for the Catholic Challenge, where it'll face Notre Dame and the host Wildcats. Fans can find all live coverage links on the Broncos' schedule page.