SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — The Santa Clara University women's volleyball team rallied past host Cal Poly, 3-2 (23-25, 23-25, 25-20, 29-27, 15-13) to open the SLO Classic on Thursday, earning a reverse sweep after dropping the first two sets at the Mott Athletics Center.
Cate Shanahan led Santa Clara (4-7) with a career-high-tying 26 kills and a career-high .558 hitting percentage.
Morgan Hayes added 21 kills, nine digs, three blocks and one service ace, logging her second consecutive 20-kills match and fourth of the season.
Macy Hinshaw tallied a career-high 65 assists to go with 16 digs, her sixth double-double of the year and third in a row.
Lexi Trapani recorded 21 digs -- her third 20-plus digs performance of 2026, and added two assists and a service ace.
Thursday marked the first time Santa Clara had two players with at least 20 kills each since Nov. 10, 2022, at Gonzaga, when
Layla Truitt had 25 kills and Julia Sangiacomo had 23. The Broncos hit .351 in the match — their second-best percentage of the season — and had a season-high 73 kills, their most in almost two years, since also logging 73 at Saint Mary's on Nov. 2, 2024. It was the Broncos' first reverse sweep victory in a year nearly to the exact day, after they beat crosstown rival San Jose State, 3-2, on Sept. 16, 2025.
Santa Clara stayed within reach throughout the first set, tying it at 13, 14, 15 and 16 before Cal Poly (4-4) moved ahead 20-16. The visitors pushed back late, getting a
Grace Flanagan kill and a Cal Poly attack error to pull within 22-21, then fought off set point on a Cal Poly bad set. Cal Poly finished the set on Breklyn Pulling's kill for a 25-23 decision.
The second set was another close one. Santa Clara moved in front 16-14 on a Hayes kill and a Hinshaw service ace, but the Mustangs answered with five consecutive points to leave the Broncos down 19-16. Hayes kept Santa Clara close with three late kills that made it a one-point score three different times at 20-19, 23-22 and 24-23, before Cal Poly closed the set, 25-23, to take a 2-0 match lead.
That's when the Broncos' comeback began. Santa Clara took control of the third set with a 9-0 run after trailing 15-13, moving ahead 22-15 with Trapani serving for eight straight points. Shanahan's kill put Santa Clara in front 16-15, and Hayes added three kills during the surge. The Broncos closed out the set 25-20.
It took a herculean effort in the fourth set to force a deciding fifth. Santa Clara answered late pressure from the Mustangs by taking four of the final five points to win set four in extra points, 29-27. Cal Poly had four different match points in the set, and the Broncos fought off every single one of them. After Cal Poly moved ahead 27-26 for its fourth match point in the sequence,
Allison Dzieciuch tied it with a kill,
Ashlynn Reilly followed with a service ace, and Shanahan finished the set with a kill from fellow hitter Hayes.
Cal Poly again had leads in the fifth set, even doubling up the Broncos early at 6-3, but Santa Clara flipped the set after the Mustangs went ahead 8-7. A Shanahan kill, a
Kaia Grieve block, and a Grieve kill helped put SCU in front, 12-9. Cal Poly later got within 14-13, but Shanahan finished the match with her 26th kill, winning the set, 15-13, and the match, 3-2.
Emma Fredrick led Cal Poly with 26 kills, adding seven digs and two aces. Alexis Haury finished with 59 assists, seven digs and one ace. Kendall Beshear recorded 14 kills, 10 digs, three aces and three block assists. Pulling added 13 kills without an attack error on 17 swings and had four block assists.
The Broncos close out their trip to San Luis Obispo and the SLO Classic at 3:30 p.m. Friday with a neutral-site match versus No. 8 Stanford. Fans can find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.
