Milton Named MVP, Mead All-Tournament As Volleyball Wins Tournament With Win Over Host-Hofstra

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2014 Bronco Volleyball Stats

Dropping its first set for the first time this year, Santa Clara rallied to win the next three sets and defeated host-Hofstra 3-1 to win the ACICS Hofstra Invitational on Saturday night.  Senior Taylor Milton was named the MVP and freshman Kirsten Mead was named to the All-Tournament team.

The Broncos move to 3-0 and Hofstra falls to 3-1.  Set scores were 21-25, 25-16, 25-17 and 25-19. Santa Clara will play at Army on Tues., Sept. 2 in a 4:30 pm Pacific match before moving on to Harvard for its tournament next weekend.

The Broncos hit .419 with 70 kills (13e, 136 att.).  They collected 65 assists, six aces, six service errors, 57 digs and six team blocks.

"Hofstra came out and played really well in game one. They forced us to make errors and they didn't make many. We fought back in game two and our setter did a great job of getting our hitters in good position to score. Kirsten was really good all weekend," said Wallace.  "Taylor led the team in hitting and showed a lot of grit in games two and three by scoring when we needed her. Sabrina and Nikki continue to play really solid, high level volleyball. Kaity Edwards hit .684 and Lacey Maas scored career numbers as well. They were both on fire and I was really proud of the those two girls because they really responded."

Milton picked up double-digit kills again, adding 10 with nine digs and three blocks.  Milton hit .426 on the weekend, averaging 3.25 kills per game, .38 service aces and 2.0 digs.  

"It was really nice getting out there with the whole team finally playing someone else. We saw a number of different style of volleyball and I feel like we improved a lot throughout the weekend," said Milton.  "Everyone had a chance to play which is always nice.  We feel really good about how we played this weekend and everyone is doing a good job of putting the team first. Kirsten came in as a freshman and ran the offense really, really well. She moved the ball around really well. Sabrina was really good all weekend and Dani was strong in the back row, with crisp passes to help our offense.

"From an MVP standpoint, I was really thankful to be named.  I hope to continue to get better both individually and as a team not just in this tournament, but throughout the preseason," added Milton.  "We look forward to playing Army on Tuesday and continuing out trip at Harvard. Our goal on this trip is to come home 7-0."

Mead collected a career-high 59 assists, 13 digs and one block assist. The team hit .419 with five Broncos collecting double-digit kills which is a compliment to her setting and the team's passing throughout the match.  On the weekend, the team hit .442 to its opponents own .171.

Sabrina Clayton led the Broncos in kills again, collecting 17, while hitting .333 (5 e, 36 att.) with 10 digs, a pair of blocks and two aces. Nikki Hess, a Freshman All-WCC honoree last season, had 16 kills, hitting .406 (3 e, 32 att.) with six digs.  Also scoring double digit kills and playing at a high level were Kaity Edwards with 13 kills, hitting .684 (0 e, 19 att.) and Lacey Maas with 11 kills, hitting .714 (1 e, 14 att.).

Hofstra hit 305 with 53 kills (13 e, 131 att.).  They collected 50 assists, two aces, five service errors, 39 digs and 7.5 team blocks.  Kelsie Wills 19 kills and 10 digs led them.  Veronika Kostova collected 11 kills and Hannah Klemm scored 45 assists with four digs and two kills.

The Broncos hit .205 in set one (15 kills, 7 e, 39 att.); .529 in set two (20 kills, 2 e, 34 att.), .536 in set three (17 kills, 2 e, 28 att.) and .457 in the final set (18 kills, 2 e, 35 att.).  

Hofstra hit .273 in the first set (13 kills, 4 e, 33 att.); .267 with 11 kills in the second set (3 e, 30 att.); .303 in the third set with 14 kills (4 e, 33 att.) and .371 in the last set with 15 kills (2 e, 35 att.).