SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The Santa Clara University women's volleyball team turned in another hard-fought effort Saturday, bouncing back to even the match before eventually falling to visiting LMU, 3-1 (25-14, 20-25, 25-16, 25-19) in a West Coast Conference match at Leavey Center.
Cate Shanahan led Santa Clara (4-10, 0-2 WCC) with 17 kills, narrowly missing a double-double with nine digs and three blocks.
Lexi Trapani tied a career-high with 24 digs and added five assists.
Macy Hinshaw posted her sixth consecutive double-double with 35 assists and 15 digs.
Morgan Hayes added 12 kills and two blocks. Hayes has recorded 12 or more kills in six straight games.
The Broncos were even with the Lions (11-2, 2-0 WCC) in the first set at 3-3 after an LMU service error, but the Lions moved ahead 10-4 behind four kills, two Santa Clara attack errors, and a service ace. Hayes provided three kills for the Broncos, while Shanahan added two kills and a late block from
Allison Dzieciuch. Dzieciuch finished with three blocks, her second consecutive game with at least three total blocks. LMU finished the set 25-14.
Santa Clara erased a 14-12 deficit in the second set and took a 17-15 lead with
Selin Aslayan supplying two kills and
Tia Kapihe adding a service ace during the stretch. The Broncos would even the match at 1-1 with a 25-20 set victory, getting back-to-back late kills from Hayes to reach set point before an LMU service error ended it.
The Broncos fell behind in the third set when LMU turned a 7-5 score into an 11-5 advantage during Kayla Lopez's serve. Shanahan led Santa Clara's response with six kills in the set, including three after the score reached 20-13, but the Lions finished the set, 25-16, to take a 2-1 match lead.
Santa Clara continued to fight to the end. It responded to a 9-4 deficit in the fourth set with kills from Kapihe, Shanahan, Dzieciuch, and
Grace Flanagan to pull within 13-11. Flanagan had four blocks Saturday, giving her at least four total blocks in two consecutive games. LMU pushed the margin back out later in the set, and the Broncos could not get closer than four after the Lions took a 20-14 lead. LMU took the fourth set, 25-19, to close out the match.
Maria Tabacuks finished with a team-high 15 kills and added eight digs for LMU. Delfina Schuh had an all-around performance for the Lions with 36 assists, nine digs, seven kills, and two blocks. Gabriella Cascione collected a team-high 18 digs. Zaria Thornton tallied a team-high nine total blocks and added five kills.
Santa Clara hits the road next week for the first time in WCC play, traveling to the Pacific Northwest for matches at Portland on Thursday and Seattle on Saturday. Fans can find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.
