SANTA CLARA, Calif. — All facets of the game were on display Thursday night inside Leavey Center, with the Santa Clara University volleyball team and Portland going back and forth all match long while vying for that first positive step in West Coast Conference play, a 1-0 record.
 
It was Portland who would survive the battle, barely squeaking past the Broncos by the slimmest of margins in five sets, winning 3-2 (25-21, 16-25, 15-25, 25-23, 15-13), in both teams' WCC opener.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Broncos (8-5, 0-1 WCC) dominated sets two and three. They hit over .500 in both sets and shut down the Pilots (6-7, 1-0 WCC) defensively, holding them to .185 and .036 hitting, respectively. They won by scores of 25-16 and 25-15, putting them back in control of the match with a 2-1 lead.
• Portland's fight towards a win started long before the final points of the fifth set. Santa Clara carried its momentum from sets two and three into the start of the fourth, holding early leads of 9-3 and 10-5. The Broncos were looking to close it out in four, but the Pilots surged into gear, going on a 14-5 run to take the lead at 19-15. A 6-1 Santa Clara spurt put it back ahead at 21-20. Portland scored five of the set's final seven points, three from SCU errors, to win the set 25-23 and send it to a deciding fifth.
• The fifth set couldn't have been any closer than it was. Portland won it by the minimum two points at 15-13, and that was after getting through 11 tie scores and three lead changes. Santa Clara was still in position to win the match with a 12-11 lead, and a 13-13 tie score. But like the fourth set, Portland scored four of the final five points, with Lia Hawken providing two kills and a service aces to put away the victory for the Pilots.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 3: Freshman Alyssa Eimer logged her first career service ace on Saturday at Duke, and Thursday she tallied three more for a new season high. The Broncos had 10 service aces against Portland, their most since also having 10 on Aug. 27 at San Jose State.
• 5th: Nive Tuileta logged her fifth double-double of the season – and fourth in her last six matches – with 33 assists and a career-high 22 digs. She also had three kills and two service aces on the night.
• 20: Oren Abutbul led all players Thursday with a career-high-tying 20 kills. She hit .517 with those 20 kills while adding five blocks and four digs. She last tallied 20 kills as a freshman in 2021 with the University of Albany against New Hampshire.

NEXT UP

• The opening weekend of conference play continues at 1 p.m. Saturday when the Broncos host Gonzaga, 3-0 losers at San Francisco on Thursday. Fans can purchase tickets and find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.