SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — Santa Clara beach volleyball swept its tripleheader slate of matches Saturday at the 2nd annual Santa Cruz Invitational. The Broncos defeated Cal Poly and Cal State Northridge 4-1, then downed No. 13 San Francisco 3-2 in the afternoon finale.
The Broncos (5-1, 1-1 WCC) capped the day with a victory over the WCC foe Dons, who defeated Santa Clara 3-2 on March 12. Santa Clara is on a four-match winning streak.
Sarah Vaccaro and Katrina Inch won six of seven sets and 35 more points than their opposition at the No. 3 position. Each of Santa Clara's other four pairs went 2-1.
Danielle Rottman and Nikki Hess — playing at the No. 2 spot — set the tone early in the day and cruised to a two-set win over Cal Poly's Raeann Greisen and Anna Gorman. The pairings of Rottman/Hess, Lacey Maas/Jensen Cunningham (No. 4) and Madison Dutra/Mary Shepherd (No. 5) won the first three duals against Cal State Northridge to clinch the match.
Santa Clara's final tilt against the Dons came down to its No. 1 team of Sabrina Clayton and Kirsten Mead. The top Bronco pairing edged Oluoma Okaro/Sara Staengle 16-14 in the final sets to finish off the sweep. Santa Clara overcame a 2-0 deficit in the victory.
RESULTS
Santa Clara 4 Cal Poly 1
No. 1 - Sabrina Clayton/Kirsten Mead (SCU) def. Adlee Van Winden/Taylor Nelson (CP); 22-20, 21-19
No. 2 - Danielle Rottman/Nikki Hess (SCU) def. Raeann Greisen/Anna Gorman (CP); 21-9, 21-14
No. 3 - Sarah Vaccaro/Katrina Inch (SCU) def. Jacqueline Martin/Casey Carroll (CP); 21-12, 21-12
No. 4 - Lacey Maas/Jensen Cunningham (SCU) def. Savannah Nieman/Bailey Roach (CP); 13-21, 21-14, 15-10
No. 5 - Clare Holehouse/Megan Wayne (CP) def. Madison Dutra/Mary Shepherd (SCU); 22-20, 21-18
Exh. - Maddie McCool/Alexis Clewis (CP) def. Hailey Lindberg/Tatiana San Juan (SCU); 15-21, 21-15, 15-12
Santa Clara 4 CSUN 1
No. 1 - Julie Haake/Maddie Leiphardt (CSUN) def. Clayton/Mead (SCU); 21-15, 21-13
No. 2 - Rottman/Hess (SCU) def. Lauren Conati/Katie Sato (CSUN); 21-13, 21-11
No. 3 - Vaccaro/Inch (SCU) def. Rachel Gam/Kristey Markle (CSUN); 17-21, 21-19, 15-9
No. 4 - Maas/Cunningham (SCU) def. Aeryn Owens/Erin Indermill (CSUN); 21-18, 21-19
No. 5 - Dutra/Shepherd (SCU) def. Nada Dragovic/Kamden Maas (CSUN); 21-14, 19-21, 15-9
Exh. - Nicoletta Stork/Nicolette Pinkney (CSUN) def. Lindberg/San Juan; 21-15, 21-14
Santa Clara 3 No. 13 San Francisco 2
No. 1 - Clayton/Mead (SCU) def. Oluoma Okaro/Sara Staengle (USF); 17-21, 21-17, 16-14
No. 2 - Katarina Pilepic/Jurja Vlasic (USF) def. Rottman/Hess (SCU); 21-18, 13-21, 16-14
No. 3 - Vaccaro/Inch (SCU) def. Emily Reed/Courtney Sabahi (USF); 21-18, 21-11
No. 4 - Jessica Gaffney/Kiara McKibben (USF) def. Maas/Cunningham (SCU); 21-6, 21-19
No. 5 - Dutra/Shepherd (SCU) def. Jessica Keenan/Kim Gutierrez (USF); 21-19, 21-13
Exh. - Lindberg/San Juan def. Dane Miller/Kellie Hirotsu (USF); 21-14, 26-24
NEXT MATCHES
The Broncos host San José State Thursday and Oregon on Friday at Los Gatos High School.
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