DURHAM, N.C. — A long road trip all the way across the country came to an end Saturday for the Santa Clara University volleyball team, with the Broncos falling, 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-13), to host Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Broncos (8-4) ran into a red-hot Duke (9-2) team Saturday. The Blue Devils continued their run as one of the hottest teams in the country, winning their ninth match in a row, including staying undefeated (5-0) at home. They hit .480 in the match and only got better as the night went on, hitting .425, .464 and .563 in sets one, two and three, respectively.
• Sophia Tulino stayed hot, too. She had double-digit kills (10) for the third time in as many matches on the road trip. She posted the second-best hitting percentage of her career (minimum 10 kills) at .529, something she previously did on Thursday when she hit .462 at NC Central.
• Santa Clara held early leads of 2-1 and 4-3 in the first set, and was still tied at 5-5, but Duke pulled away with a 5-2 spurt and never trailed again. The Broncos went on a 4-1 push to make it close at 22-19, but two kills and a block sealed the opening frame for the Blue Devils at 25-22.
• Santa Clara led again in set two, even later this time at 9-8 and sitting tied at 10-10. But once again the Duke offense helped the Blue Devils pull away with six straight points – five of them from kills – and didn't turn back. The third set was all Duke, as it started on an 11-2 run before growing that to 15-4 and 23-10.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 14: Layla Truitt led Santa Clara with 14 kills. It was her fifth double-digit kills performance in her last six matches.
• .480: Duke's .480 hitting percentage is the highest by a Santa Clara opponent since at least 2012 (more than 11 years). It's been nearly a year since a Broncos opponent has hit over .400, since then-No. 14 BYU hit .429 on Oct. 6 last season in Provo, Utah.

NEXT UP

• Santa Clara opens conference play at home next week when it hosts Portland on Thursday and Gonzaga on Saturday. Fans can purchase tickets and find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.