LOS ANGELES — The Santa Clara University women's volleyball team came on strong late Thursday, battling back from being two sets down to win set three and take an early lead in set four before finally falling to LMU, 3-1 (25-19, 25-17, 20-25, 25-21), in a West Coast Conference match at Gersten Pavilion.
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The Broncos (8-12, 4-4 WCC) hit .455 and .303, respectively, in sets three and four after hitting negative percentages in both of the first two sets. SCU's defense made it difficult for the host Lions (16-3, 7-1 WCC), too, in those opening frames, holding them to only .143 hitting in the first set and .186 overall through the first two.
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Senior middle blocker
Grace Flanagan led the Broncos with a career-high-tying 15 kills on .423 hitting. She tied the career mark in the same place she first set it with 15 kills against the Lions on Nov. 13, 2025. Three-time defending WCC Offensive Player of the Week
Cate Shanahan logged 13 kills and narrowly missed a double-double with nine digs. Setter
Macy Hinshaw turned in her 13th double-double of the year and 10th in her last 12 matches with 37 assists and 11 digs. She also added a service ace and a block.
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Selin Aslayan had nine kills with no errors to hit .600. Five of those kills came in the third set, where she powered the Broncos to a 25-20 victory. She had kills for the final two, three of the last four and four of Santa Clara's last six points in the set. Santa Clara outhit LMU, .455 to .265 in that set.
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But LMU's hitting game slowly got better throughout the match. After hitting .143 in the first set, it hit .250, .265 and finally .375 in the clinching fourth set. The Lions were led by Maria Tabacuks' 21 kills on .354 hitting. Setter Delfina Schuh had a double-double with 41 assists, 12 digs, three kills and three blocks. Anya Santrac also had a double-double with 13 kills, 11 digs, three blocks, an ace and an assist.
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The Lions had 12 total blocks as a team Thursday. They had 13 on Sept. 26 in the teams' first showdown in Santa Clara, the most by a Broncos opponent all season. The Broncos outdug LMU, 56-49, led by senior libero
Lexi Trapani's 15.
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Santa Clara next takes on Pepperdine at noon Saturday. Fans can find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.
