Volleyball Defeats Portland 3-1 on Senior Day

Posted: Nov 06, 2010

On Bronco Volleyball Senior Day, its last home match of the season, Santa Clara defeated Portland 3-1. Game scores were 30-28, 23-25, 25-21 and 25-14. Santa Clara is 14-11 and 5-6 in the WCC. Portland is 10-17 and 3-8 in the WCC.

"Tanya Schmidt hit .550 and led the team with action all over the court. We are really happy to see Kaleigh catch fire in the last couple sets and it really gave the team a boost. Bridget O'Hara has made a really big difference in playing middle-back defense for us. It puts her in the position to make more plays and is really working for us," said Bronco head coach Jon Wallace.

"Our two setters did a nice job of running our offense tonight," said Wallace. "I am excited about our clinic we are hosting right now as well. It gives a lot of smaller, future volleyball players a chance to come out on the court and play with our team and take some instruction. These are always a lot more fun after a win, but the team really enjoys doing it."

Santa Clara hit .301 with 66 kills (21 e, 149 att.). The Broncos collected 58 digs, 56 assists, four service aces and 9.5 team blocks. Portland hit .206 with 59 kills (27 e, 155 att.). The Pilots collected 56 digs, 58 assists, five service aces and six team blocks.

Individually Santa Clara was led by Kaleigh Durket who crushed 19 kills, hitting .438 (5 e, 32 att.). Kayla Lommori had 13 kills and two aces. Tanya Schmidt scored 12 kills, hitting .550 (1 e, 20 att). Dana Knudsen had nine kills and Lexi Williamson had seven kills. Emily Burke had 27 assists and nine digs. Alexandra Palmer had 26 assists. Bridget O'Hara collected 25 digs.

In the first set the teams battled to three ties. Schmidt's tip and then a Pilot hitting error and a team block by Knudsen and Lommori gave the Broncos a 5-3 lead. The Pilots scored eight of the next 10 points to take an 11-7 lead. Timeout Broncos. The Broncos scored five straight, including a kill by Durket cross-court, a dump kill by Williamson and a Pilot hitting error to take a 12-11 lead. The Pilots scored on a kill by Mckenzie Oliver and then one by Kati Hronekto take the lead back, 13-12. The teams tied it four more times before Megan Anders crushed the ball for a kill and Alexandra Palmer knocked down a service ace, 18-16 Broncos. The Pilots tied it back up with two kills. Knudsen's kill gave the Broncos the ball and Monica Jordan committed a ball handling error to push the Bronco lead to 20-18. Timeout Pilots. Williamson's tip over the block made it 21-18. The teams traded points and after a Knudsen kill the Pilots whistled for time again, 22-19 Broncos. Trading sideouts, Schmidt's kill to the back put SCU up 23-20. The Pilots scored twice. Timeout Broncos. Schmidt picked up her fourth kill of the set to make it 24-22, but a Pilot kill off the block and then a Lommori error tied it up 24-24. Ariel Usher hit the ball down the line for a kill, but Schmidt's quick thinking tip tied it up 25-25. The Pilots scored, but Knudsen's kill tied it up 26-26. A Pilot kill off the block and then a service error tied it up 27-27. A service ace by Lommori put SCU up 28-27, but the Pilots knocked another kill off the Bronco block to tie it up 28-28. Knudsen's kill to the back row and Durket's cross court kill gave the Broncos a 30-28 set one win. There were seven lead changes in the set. Santa Clara hit .208 with 18 kills (8 e, 48 att.). Portland hit .245 with 20 kills (8 e, 49 att.). Knudsen scored six kills and Schmidt five in set one.

In set two, a Williamson ace gave the Broncos a 2-1 lead. Portland rushed out to a 7-3 lead and Wallace whistled for timeout. Santa Clara scored three of the next four points, but the Pilots got the ball back on a kill, up 9-7. The two teams traded points twice and Schmidt kill helped SCU sideout, down 12-10. Santa Clara scored four of the next five points to take a 14-13 lead on two kills by Megan Anders off the block. Timeout Pilots. The Broncos scored three of the next four points, taking a 17-15 lead on a kill by Durket and a Pilot hitting error. The Pilots crushed two kills to tied it up 17-17. A Pilot service error and a hitting error put the Broncos back up by two, 19-17. Two Bronco hitting errors and the set was tied again, 19-19. The Pilots won three of the next four points, taking a 22-20 lead. Timeout Broncos. Durket's back-court kill and Schmidt's tip tied it up 22-22. The Pilots scored three of the next four points to win set two 25-23. Santa Clara hit .118 with 13 kills (9 e, 34 att.). Portland hit .226 with 13 kills (6 e, 31 att.). Durket collected five kills.

In set three the Pilots went up 5-3 on a Williamson hitting error. Three straight Bronco points gave the Broncos the lead momentarily. A dump by Burke gave the Broncos a 9-7 lead. Timeout Pilots. Lommori's kill was followed by one by Durket and Bronco team block, 12-9 Broncos. Lommori's kill of the block made it 13-11 Broncos. The Pilots scored five of the next seven to take a 16-15 lead. Tying it up three times, SCU took a 22-19 lead on team block, a Durket kill and a Pilot attack error. Timeout Pilots. A kill by Hronek gave the Pilots the ball, but Lommori's cross court kill brought it back to the Broncos, up 22-19. Williamson crushed the ball off the blocker, 23-19. A kill by Durket was followed by a kill by Schmidt making Santa Clara set three winners, 25-21. Santa Clara hit .395 with 20 kills (3 e, 43 att.). Portland hit .256 with 15 kills (5 e, 39 att.). Durket had seven kills in the set and O'Hara collected eight digs.

In set four the Broncos ran out to a 2-0 lead on Portland errors. The teams tied it up twice with Schmidt's kill and then Lommori's giving SCU a 6-4 lead. Anders kill off the defender gave SCU an 8-5 lead. Knudsen's kill make it 9-6 and then Durket's kill made it 10-7. A Pilot error gave the Broncos the ball and Lommori crushed it cross court to put SCU up 14-10. Sideout Broncos on Schmidt's kill and then Lommori's put SCU up 16-12. Timeout Portland. The Broncos collected three straight block solos, Anders scored two and then Lommori one to give SCU a 19-12 lead. Trading points, the Broncos moved forward on a team block and a Pilot error, 22-14. Lommori's ace, a Pilot hitting error and Knudsen's kill gave SCU a 25-14 set four win. SCU hit .583 with 15 kills (1 e, 24 att.). Portland hit .083 with 11 kills (8 e, 36 att.).