SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The Santa Clara University women's volleyball team played its first home match of 2026 Friday, opening its own Santa Clara Mission Classic with a 3-0 setback versus San Diego State (25-15, 25-15, 25-22) at Leavey Center.
Morgan Hayes, who entered the night ranked No. 4 in the nation in total kills, led the Broncos (2-6) with nine kills, hitting .304, and added a service ace.
Cate Shanahan was just shy of a double-double with eight kills, eight digs, an ace, and a block assist.
Macy Hinshaw finished with 24 assists, three digs, a kill, and a block assist.
Santa Clara cut an early five-point deficit to two in the first set, moving from 8-3 to 11-9 behind Hayes' kills, an
Ashlynn Reilly service ace, and a block by
Tia Kapihe and
Bryn Shankle. San Diego State (4-2) answered by building a 17-10 advantage, and despite a late
Alyssa Eimer ace, Santa Clara dropped the set 25-15.
In the second set, Santa Clara worked back from an early deficit and tied the set at 6-6 on a block by Hinshaw and
Grace Flanagan. San Diego State responded with five straight points to move ahead 11-6, and Santa Clara could not close the gap despite later kills from Shankle, Hayes, Kapihe, and Shanahan. San Diego State took the set again, 25-15, to go up 2-0 in the match.
The Broncos made their strongest late push in the third set when Kapihe recorded consecutive kills to pull within 23-22. Earlier, Hayes added a kill and Santa Clara benefited from two San Diego State attack errors to trim an 18-13 deficit to 18-16. The Aztecs answered the final push with the last two points to take the set 25-22, and complete the sweep.
Ella Schabort was selected as the "Player of the Match" after leading San Diego State with 19 kills while hitting .692 with only one error on 26 attacks. Kendall Mairs recorded 32 assists and added seven digs. Layla Austin just missed a double-double, finishing with 11 kills, nine digs, and one ace. Zara Stewart also narrowly missed a double-double with 11 digs and eight assists.
The Aztecs hit .407 as a team while holding the Broncos to just .135 hitting. Santa Clara outserved (four aces to SDSU's one) and outblocked (3-2) the Aztecs, but the visitors nearly doubled the Broncos' dig total (45-28) and had six fewer attack errors (only nine to SCU's 15).
The Santa Clara Mission Classic continues Saturday with two matches. The host Broncos face CSU Bakersfield at 1 p.m., while San Diego State takes on California at 4 p.m. Fans can purchase tickets and find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.
