Nov. 18, 2000
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The 15th-ranked Santa Clara volleyball team won its first West Coast Conference title in seven years--and third overall--with a four-game victory over 12th-ranked Pepperdine tonight at the Pat Malley Center. With the win, Santa Clara also earns the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The Broncos won by a 10-15, 15-9, 15-9, 3-15, 15-12 score to tie a program high for victories in a season with 26, originally set by the 1991 squad. SCU is 26-3 overall, 13-1 in league action. The Waves fall to 23-6 overall, 12-2 in the WCC for second place. The Broncos also won conference championships in 1992 and '93. On another note, tonight's match marked the fourth straight five-game thriller between these two teams.
"We wanted to take this program to a conference championship," head coach Jon Wallace said. "And to get it in my second year, I think it's just going to keep rolling the ball we started. It shows we're going to get the job done. Tonight is going to last forever."
Prior to the start of the match, Santa Clara honored the team's five seniors, who played their last home match of their collegiate careers. Ynez Carrasco finished with 23 kills, Amy Kohl added 19, Roz Pelayo had 62 assists, Brooke Terhune added six blocks and Annika Dell recorded nine kills.
Five Pepperdine attackers reached double figures, led by Jennifer Fopma and Kate Taylor with 17 each.
Santa Clara took a 4-0 lead on a kill from Dell in the first game, but Pepperdine was able to tie it at 8-8. Three hitting errors by the home team gave Pepperdine an 11-8 lead that they held on to close the game out. Game two was a tight match through a 6-6 tie. A solo block by Terhune gave SCU a 9-7 lead, and later took the frame on a Pepperdine hitting error. After the break, the Broncos opened game three with a 6-0 lead, extending it to 13-6 before the final game tally. In the fourth frame, Pepperdine jumped to a 10-1 lead and held on to that margin through 12-3 before sending the match to a fifth set.
In the final game, Kohl and junior Jami Bari posted three kills each to give Santa Clara an 11-6 lead. An SCU service and hitting error, along with two more kills by Bari put the Broncos ahead 13-8. Pepperdine rallied for four points before a Kohl kill and a Pepperdine hitting error gave Santa Clara the WCC title.
The Broncos close out the regular season at 21st-ranked Stanford on Tuesday, Nov. 21. The match will begin at 7 p.m. at Maples Pavilion. Santa Clara will then look forward to Sunday, Nov. 26, when the NCAA announces pairing for the 2000 Women's Volleyball National Championship.
No. 15 Santa Clara def. No. 12 Pepperdine 10-15, 15-9, 15-9, 3-15, 15-12
