SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Fresh off a 2-1 stretch, including its match at No. 9 Saint Mary's on Monday, Santa Clara travels south to Hermosa Beach for the Hermosa Beach Collegiate Challenge on Sat., April 12. A team event Saturday, the Broncos will also play in the pairs challenge on Sunday. Prior to playing in Southern California, the Broncos will host USF at 3 pm on Wed., April 9 at Los Gatos High School in Los Gatos.
Santa Clara, 5-4, is scheduled to play No. 1 Southern California on Saturday morning at 10 am. They will play LMU at noon and then finish with No. 6 UCLA at 2 pm.
The Broncos defeated both Sacramento State and Boise State 5-0 on April 5 in Sacramento. They were defeated 4-1 by No. 9 Saint Mary's on Monday in Moraga. Prior to the USF match on Wednesday, Bronco head coach Jon Wallace (JW) talked about the weekend ahead and the Broncos improvement this season.
SCU: Santa Clara is slated to host USF on Wednesday prior to traveling south. What kind of team is USF? What are you looking for on Wednesday in terms of improvement?
JW: We will go three rounds vs. USF. USF is a very good team. They have everybody back on their sand teams that they had last year, which gives them a little bit of an advantage on us. We have somebody new on every team (pair), but our girls are playing really well right now.
We showed great improvement on the weekend, beating Boise State and Sacramento State on the road. Our players are really gelling and getting back in the groove of things. We had a tough game Monday at St. Mary's, but I liked how we competed. Taylor Milton and Nikki Hess are playing much better and looking really good. We were missing Sabrina Clayton due to illness in Moraga – she had a little bit of the flu – so we had to rearrange our order. But Wednesday we should be at full strength and I'm really excited to play.
SCU: Moving forward this weekend you guys play USC, LMU and UCLA. What are your goals this weekend? Each week you have different goals which include playing better, making improvements and being more consistent.
JW: We've been on a good steady rise as a team and individuals and I'm really excited for this coming weekend because it is by far the toughest tournament that we'll play in. The last time we played UCLA, we had a great shot, so I know our girls will be really excited to play that match. They want to redeem themselves and get a victory there. But the Hermosa Beach Challenge is a great tournament. To be down in Hermosa Beach playing right next to the ocean – not on a sand court on a university but at the beach, is great. The experience is just incredible; the girls love it down there. The team really just enjoys the atmosphere. Sand volleyball definitely has a different culture to it, a little more relaxed and a little bit friendlier. It's pretty neat to be down there.
SCU: Who is playing well for you right now? Who has improved a lot?
JW: Our teams have all progressed, starting with Katy Schatzman and Lacey Maas. Yesterday they got a win against Saint Mary's and played really well. Lacey was doing her job at the net and Katy was playing great defense in the backcourt and they looked real steady. Gigi Cresto and Taylor Dayton have been playing really solid matches. They've probably gone more to three sets than anybody else. They're really competing well and when they get into a groove they are tough to beat. I really like the play of Sabrina Clayton and Dani Rottman. They have really specific roles: Sabrina controls the net and does a great job and Dani runs around and hustles and makes amazing plays in the sand. They really work well together and cause a lot of problems for other teams.
SCU: This weekend you play in southern California. Next week you play Stanford along with Cal and then the sand season is over. When you look forward to the indoor spring season that you'll play here in the last part of April and May, what are a couple areas you've seen your team improve on playing sand? Are there ways that they have grown or blossomed or gained confidence?
JW: I liked another season of competitiveness: our girls going out there and having to compete. With twos, it's you and your partner and it's a little bit smaller. So it's a little more heightened way of competing. They can't hide or go away.
One of the things we have built in our program is being mentally tough, and in twos you really have to be mentally tough to make it through a match. Our girls are understanding that more and more. They are also understanding that they need to compete; they can't expect their teammates to compete for them, and they need to compete and get it done.
I also like the training aspect to have the girls on task always trying to get better, which is a good mentality for them. And the sand helps with that. It gets them thinking that they need to improve to master the skills and to get better at playing sand volleyball. They've been on task and working hard to set goals and accomplish their goals. That is a good culture to bring into the indoor. Our indoor is going to be a good six weeks of training getting back into the nuances of indoor. More teaching and learning will be going on and I think that this group has really learned how to learn, and that is really important. What we want to get done in this spring season before we start up in August is to continue to build the culture, get the girls to come together and understand our core principles, and play a brand of volleyball that's fast and athletic.
