DENVER — Both sides of the ball were working Thursday for the Santa Clara University women's volleyball team, as the Broncos hit over .300 and logged a season-high 11 blocks to defeat Denver, 3-1 (25-21, 24-26, 25-18, 27-25), in a West Coast Conference match at Hamilton Gymnasium.
Santa Clara (9-13, 5-5 WCC) hit .313 with 68 kills and collected double-digit blocks for the second time in four matches. The Pioneers (11-11, 4-6 WCC) only hit .221 against the Broncos while only posting three blocks. Thursday night's win marked the 100th victory at Santa Clara for head coach
Erin Lindsey, who took over in 2019. She became the third Santa Clara head coach to win 100 or more matches at the helm of the program
Cate Shanahan tallied 21 kills for the second consecutive match, adding 12 digs for her eighth double-double of the season to go with two service aces and four total blocks.
Macy Hinshaw finished with 54 assists and 13 digs for her third consecutive double-double and 12th in her last 14 matches.
Morgan Hayes added 15 kills while hitting .393.
Grace Flanagan notched seven kills without an attack error and led the block with six total blocks, a season high.
Santa Clara answered Denver's late push in the first set by taking four of the final five points, using kills from Hayes and Shanahan before a Denver attack error closed a 25-21 opening-set win. Earlier, Santa Clara built a 10-4 lead, but Denver tied the set at 13 and later moved ahead 16-15 before Santa Clara responded down the stretch.
Santa Clara led 24-21 in the second set after
Allison Dzieciuch's kill from Hinshaw, but Denver scored the final five points to come back and take it, 26-24. Santa Clara came back from 7-4 down to move ahead 8-7 earlier in the set, with
Selin Aslayan contributing two kills during that stretch. Aslayan has recorded at least 13 kills in two consecutive matches.
Santa Clara started the third set with five straight points on Hinshaw's serve for a 5-0 lead, with kills from Shanahan and Flanagan around three Denver attack errors. After Denver narrowed the score to 17-16, Santa Clara answered with points on two Denver errors and a Shanahan kill to move ahead, 20-16.
Lexi Trapani added a late service ace, and Santa Clara closed the set, 25-18, to take a 2-1 match lead.
Santa Clara pulled off its own comeback in the fourth set, rallying from a 19-16 deficit and withstanding Denver set points at 24-23 and 25-24 before winning, 27-25. After Dzieciuch's sideout kill,
Ashlynn Reilly served five straight Santa Clara points, including a service ace to tie the set at 19-19, as the Broncos moved ahead 22-19. Shanahan tied it at 25 with a kill, followed with a service ace, and Hayes closed the set with a kill.
Alicia Thibodeau finished with 19 kills, 15 digs and one service ace for the Pioneers. Lily Van Hal recorded 41 assists and seven digs. Madison Winkler collected 20 digs and added six assists. Jamia Johnson recorded 13 kills on a .345 hitting percentage.
Santa Clara wraps its road trip at noon Saturday at San Diego. Fans can find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.
