Oct. 12, 2002
PORTLAND, Ore. - The 14th-ranked Santa Clara University women's volleyball team swept the University of Portland Saturday night in the Chiles Center in Portland, Ore. The win was the sixth-straight overall for SCU, and the fourth-straight in West Coast Conference play.
The Broncos (15-2, 4-0 WCC) dominated the first two games, registering 42 kills to the Pilots (11-7, 1-3 WCC) 23 en route to game scores of 30-23 and 30-24. Santa Clara out-dug Portland by a 44-32 margin and posted 15 more assists in the first two games.
Becky Potter had 21 kills with only two errors on 33 attempts through the first two games, good for a .576 hitting percentage to go along with 13 digs and six blocks. She was responsible for 24.5 of the 50 points that the Broncos scored through the first two games.
As a team the Broncos registered a .326 hitting percentage while Portland was limited to a .128 percentage through two games, with the biggest disparity coming in game two when SCU hit .405 and Portland could only manage a .082 hitting percentage.
Game three was tied at seven before the Broncos turned up the tempo a bit, taking the lead and extending it to 22-14 and 28-15 before the Pilots scored the next seven points to cut the Bronco lead to six. After using their second timeout, Santa Clara returned to the floor and scored two of the next four points to win game three by a 30-24 score.
Potter ended the match with 27 kills, 13 digs and seven blocks, while Kelli Sousa added to her nation's best assist per game average with 48 assists in the three games. The 27 kills in three games sets a new Santa Clara match record for kills in three games, surpassing the old mark set by Ynez Carrasco in 2000.
Megan Johnston and Alyssa Lantz each had nine kills on the night while senior co-captains Chrissy Hirsch and Cindy Hirsch combined for 22 digs.
Santa Clara will return to the friendly confines of the Leavey Center next weekend as they play host to Loyola Marymount and No. 12 Pepperdine.