Oct. 5, 2002
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The 15th-ranked Santa Clara University women's volleyball team improved to 13-2 on the season and 2-0 in West Coast Conference play with its 3-1 win over Saint Mary's Saturday night in the Leavey Center.
After jumping out to an early 2-0 lead after winning games one by a 30-23 score and game two by a count of 30-25, the Broncos allowed the Gaels (5-7, 1-1 WCC) back into the match by losing game three, 30-20. Game four started out pretty much the same way with Saint Mary's holding onto an early lead and increasing their margin to as many as five points at 16-11. Santa Clara rallied soon thereafter though and captured game four by a score of 30-26 to win their second straight conference match.
Junior Becky Potter was stellar once again for the Broncos, posting a career-high 30 kills to go along with her match-high 19 digs in the win. Her hitting percentage of .412 came at the expense of only nine hitting errors in 51 attempts. Her previous career-high came last Saturday against San Jose State when she posted 29 kills in the five-game match.
Freshmen Cassie Perret and Alyssa Lantz had good games as well, registering 16 and 10 kills, respectively, while junior Becky Biniek rounded out the Broncos in double-digit kills with 14. Cindy Hirsch recorded 17 digs while twin sister Chrissy Hirsch posted 11 more.
Junior Kelli Sousa fell just three assists shy of matching her career-high in assists, but did set a personal best for a four-game match with her 68 assists. Sousa, who entered the week ranked second in the nation in assists per game, increased her per game average to 14.73 after the 68 tonight and the 54 against USD on Friday night.
The Gaels were led on the evening by Lindsey Bogason's 17 kills and 10 digs, while Kaui Salzman posted team-high 11 digs from the libero position. Jill Parmele registered 11 kills on the evening, most of which came courtesy of Brooke Lowry who finished the evening with 48 assists.
Santa Clara will continue WCC play next weekend on the road as they take on Gonzaga on Friday evening and Portland on Saturday night. Both matches are scheduled for 7 p.m. starts.