Trailing 2-1 Saturday night on the road, the Broncos rallied to win 3-2 at Cal Poly. Set scores were 21-25, 25-12, 23-25, 25-20 and 15-8. Santa Clara is 10-3 and Cal Poly is 5-5. The Broncos open the 2014 WCC season at USF on Sept. 26.
The Broncos had four hitters with double digit kills: Nikki Hess had 15, Kaity Edwards and Sabrina Clayton had 14 each and Natasha Calkins collected 10. Kirsten Mead had 55 assists and eight digs, adding two aces. Danielle Rottman scored a personal-best 31 digs and four assists. Hess, Edwards, Clayton, Calkins and Taylor Milton all scored block solos with Hess, Clayton and Milton adding 11 digs each.
Santa Clara hit .238 with 64 kills (24 e, 168 att.). The Broncos collected 62 assists, nine aces, 13 service errors, 81 digs and 9.0 team blocks.
Cal Poly hit .135 with 50 kills (27 e, 171 att.). The Mustangs collected 47 assists, one service ace, seven service errors, 74 digs and 10.0 team blocks.
Taylor Nelson led the Mustangs with 15 kills, 21 assists and 11 digs for a triple-double. Taylor Gruenewald scored 12 kills and Raeann Greisen added nine. Nicole Kessler scored 25 digs and Maddie Kuber added 10 with 22 assists. Greisen added two block solos and four block assists.
SCU took a 4-1 lead in the first set on a couple of CPU errors. The teams were tied 6-6 before SCU advanced 11-8 on a kill by Clayton. Calkins kill put SCU up 12-10 and then Cal Poly called for time. A Bronco error gave CPU the sideout. The teams tied it up three more times before a team block put CPU up 18-17. Timeout Broncos.
Cal Poly scored four of the next six to go up 22-19. Milton crushed it cross court for a sideout. CPU scored on a kill and then a Bronco error to get set point, 24-20. Timeout Broncos.
Edwards scored in the middle coming out of the timeout, but Hannah Schleis finished off the set, 25-21 CPU. Santa Clara hit .071 with 11 kills in the first set (9 e, 28 att.). CPU hit .320 with 13 kills in the first set (5 e, 25 att.).
After a couple ties in the second set, the Broncos jumped ahead 4-2 on an attack error and a Bronco team block. Another Mustang error was followed by an ace by Hess, timeout CPU, down 6-2. The teams traded sideouts twice, 7-4 Broncos. Another kill in the middle from Calkins made it 9-6 SCU. The Broncos scored four of the next six to go up 13-8, including a kill by Hess. Trading sideouts, Edwards scored in the middle again, 14-9 Broncos. After another kill by Hess, Cal Poly called for time.
Out of the timeout, the Broncos kept pouring it on, scoring seven of the next eight, including three straight kills by Edwards, Clayton and Mead and a solo block by Calkins and an ace by Rottman, 22-10 Broncos. After an attack error, SCU scored three of the next four to win set two 25-12. The Broncos hit .448 with 14 kills in the second set (1 e, 29 att.). CPU hit -.065 in the second set with 6 kills (8 e, 31 att.).
The Broncos started the third set on a 6-2 run. Timeout Mustangs. The Broncos won two of the next three points to move ahead 8-3 before the Mustangs scored two straight. Milton scored a kill for a sideout. Edwards' 11th kill of the match made it 11-7 Broncos. The Mustangs scored five of the next six to tie it up 12-12 on a block solo. Timeout Santa Clara.
Cal Poly scored three more before Santa Clara tied it up 15-15. The Mustangs scored three straight and then SCU called for time, down 18-15. Back-to-back kills by Calkins and Milton and a Mead ace tied it up 18-18. The teams tied it four more times, but kills by Gruenewald and an error by Edwards gave CPU set point, leading 24-22. A kill by Clayton held off the Mustangs. Timeout Cal Poly. Niemen scored cross court to give the Mustangs set three, 25-23. In the third set, the Broncos hit .119 with 13 kills (8 e, 42 att.). CPU hit .150 with 12 kills (6 e, 40 att.).
The teams started the fourth set by tying it up five times. Clayton's kill started a Bronco run of four straight points to put SCU up 9-5. Timeout Cal Poly. The Mustangs scored twice before Hess crushed it down the line, 10-7 SCU. The Broncos scored four of the next seven to take a 14-10 lead, including another Edwards kill. SCU continued its fine play, scoring six of the next eight, including an ace by Clayton, 20-12 Broncos. Cal Poly scored a couple and then Calkins and Taylor collected a team block, 21-14. After a couple more Mustang points, SCU called for time.
Hess smacked one down the line for a sideout. CPU scored four of the next five, but a kill by Edwards in the middle gave SCU set point, 24-20. Nelson's attack error gave SCU set four, 25-20. SCU hit .220 with 15 kills (6 e, 41 att.). CPU hit .140 with 12 kills (5 e, 43 att.).
Clayton and Hess scored back-to-back kills to give SCU a 3-1 lead in the final set. Cal Poly called for time. Milton and Greisen traded kills and then Calkins and Hess scored back-to-back points for a 6-2 lead. Greisen scored twice before Hess collected back-to-back kills, 8-4 Broncos. A Mustang sideout was followed by Hess' 15th kill and Clayton's 13th. After whistling for time, the Mustangs made two more errors, with Hess adding an ace. A kill by Clayton made it 13-5. A Mustang kill was followed by a CPU service error for the Bronco's first match point, leading 14-6. Back-to-back Mustang points kept their cause alive. Mead dumped the ball for a kill and the Broncos won the match, 15-8. SCU hit .345 in the fifth set, collecting 11 kills (1 e, 29 att.). Cal Poly hit .152 with 7 kills (2 e, 33 att.).