Nov. 23, 2001
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The 18th-ranked Santa Clara University volleyball team ended the regular season with a loss to Idaho tonight at the Leavey Center. Game scores were 30-26, 35-33, 30-20. The Broncos fall to 19-9 overall while the Vandals improve to 11-18.
The squads played evenly early through the first frame and were tied at 20-20. Two kills and a block by Idaho's Anna-Marie Hammond helped the Vandals to a 24-20 lead that the Broncos were unable to recover from. Senior outside hitter Jami Bari registered her 1,000th career kill to lessen the Bronco deficit to 22-25 in that frame. That milestone also makes the Bari only the fifth Bronco all time to notch 1,000 kills and 1,000 kills in a career. She reached the defensive marker two weeks ago against Pepperdine.
The two teams battled through game two and took a four-point lead at 18-14 on one of sophomore middle blocker Becky Potter's seven kills of the frame. Idaho's Megan Ogden, Brooke Haeberle and Heather Kniss each recorded a kill to stop a Bronco game point. The Vandals needed three game points of their own to take a 2-0 lead at intermission.
Santa Clara jumped to a 10-5 lead in the third game behind two service aces from freshman outside hitter Megan Johnston, but allowed Idaho to tie the game at 16 and take a 20-16 lead. A Vandal block-one of their 16 on the night-ended the match.
Haeberle and Potter led all attackers with 15 kills each, while the Bari added 14 and now has 1,008 in her career. She posted a team-leading 12th double-double of the season with 11 digs.
The Vandals were led defensively by Ogden's eight blocks. Kniss and Hammond added six each as Idaho held SCU to a .125 hitting percentage.
The Broncos now wait for Monday, when the NCAA will announce which 64 teams will make it to the 2001 Tournament. Santa Clara will be hoping for an at-large bid. Four teams will be selected to 16 sites with the first and second rounds being played on November 29 through December 2. Regional semifinals and finals will be held December 6-9. The 2001 Final Four will be held December 13 and 15 at Cox Arena and Aztec Bowl, hosted by San Diego State University.
