Nov. 26, 2002
STANFORD, Calif. - The 13th-ranked Santa Clara University women's volleyball squad dropped its regular-season finale to fourth-ranked Stanford Tuesday night by a score of 3-0. The sweep was only the third time all season that the Broncos have lost in three, all of which have come to teams currently in the top-10 in the country.
Game one went back-and-forth for most of game as both squads played a very clean game as Stanford hit .400 as a team while the Broncos managed a .289 team hitting percentage. Becky Potter posted 10 kills in the first game with only one error on 12 attempts for a .750 percentage. Despite the big numbers, Santa Clara could not keep the Cardinal within reach down the stretch, as Stanford pulled away for the 30-26 win in game one.
The Broncos took an early 7-6 lead in game two but watched as the Cardinal reeled off five straight points to take a 11-7 lead before a Becky Biniek kill stopped the run. From there the two teams traded points until a Ogonna Nnamani kill gave Stanford a 15-11 lead heading into a timeout. Out of the timeout Santa Clara was out-scored by an 11-4 margin, giving the Cardinal a 26-17 lead. After the Broncos took their final timeout of the game the teams exchanged points the rest of the way as Stanford took a two-game lead with their 30-21 win in game two.
Game three started out very similarly to game one as the two teams were very close through the first 30 points, as they were tied at 15. A 6-1 run following that point did the Broncos in as Stanford ended the match with a 30-21 win in game three. Potter finished the game with
Potter ended the match with 19 kills on 36 attempts for a .389 hitting percentage while her 10 digs were a match-high. Kelli Sousa posted 42 assists in the match.
Nnamani's 19 kills were a match-high while Logan Tom posted 16 kills and a .500 hitting percentage. Anna Robinson's 46 assists and eight digs were both team highs for the Cardinal.
The Broncos finish the season with a 24-6 overall record and a .800 winning percentage, second only to the 2000 team that finished the regular season with a 26-4 record and advanced to the second-round of the NCAA Tournament.
Santa Clara will now await word on its postseason fate as the brackets for the 2002 NCAA women's volleyball tournament will be announced Sunday evening at 6 p.m. on ESPNEWS.