SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The Santa Clara University women's volleyball team jumped ahead early over visiting Saint Mary's Saturday, taking a 2-0 lead before the Gaels charged back to edge the Broncos, 3-2 (23-25, 19-25, 25-22, 25-17, 15-9), in a clash of two of the West Coast Conference's top-four teams inside the Leavey Center.
Santa Clara (8-11, 4-3 WCC) got a career- and season-high tying 26 kills and a season-high-tying 14 digs from
Cate Shanahan, her sixth double-double of the year.
Macy Hinshaw had 47 assists and nine digs,
Grace Flanagan recorded seven kills and five total blocks,
Danielle Brown had a career-high five total blocks, and
Kaia Grieve had a career-high 10 kills.
Saint Mary's (12-8, 7-1 WCC) got 13 kills, three service aces and eight digs from Antonie Kelnárová, while Layne Dent led Saint Mary's (CA) with 15 kills and added a service ace. Sadie White recorded 46 assists and 11 digs, and Makenzie Jackson added 14 kills on a .379 hitting percentage.
Santa Clara overcame a 17-15 deficit in the first set with a 5-1 run, getting kills from Grieve and
Allison Dzieciuch and a block by Dzieciuch and Brown to move ahead 20-18. The Broncos held off the Gaels late, reaching set point on Flanagan's kill before a service error closed the set at 25-23.
The Broncos turned the second set with seven straight points from trailing, 18-17, to leading, 24-18, including six on
Lexi Trapani's serve and kills from Shanahan, Brown and Flanagan. After Saint Mary's stopped the run, Shanahan finished the set with a kill for a 25-19 Santa Clara win.
Santa Clara made a late charge in the third set, scoring four straight after Saint Mary's moved ahead 24-18 to get within 24-22. Shanahan had a kill and a service ace during the run, while Flanagan added a block and Grieve had a kill. The Gaels took the set 25-22 after a Broncos service error.
The Broncos and Gaels traded points through the first half of the fourth set, reaching 10-10 on Grieve's kill from Hinshaw. Saint Mary's scored three straight points from 13-12 to 16-12, then added four straight from 19-15 to 23-15, making it a 10-3 run overall. Dzieciuch had a late kill for Santa Clara, but Saint Mary's closed out the set, 25-17.
The teams started out trading points again early in the fifth and deciding set. Santa Clara stayed close behind Shanahan, whose kills accounted for three of its first four points, but Saint Mary's scored four straight to move from 5-4 to 9-4. Grieve, Dzieciuch and Shanahan added kills as the Broncos tried to extend the set, but the Gaels finished it, 15-9, to finish their comeback.
Santa Clara next travels to Southern California to face WCC leader LMU on Thursday and third-place Pepperdine on Saturday. Fans can find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.
