Santa Clara won the last three sets at Pepperdine to defeat the Waves 3-1. Set scores were 23-25, 25-19, 25-21 and 25-23. The Broncos move to 14-6 and 4-3 in the WCC and Pepperdine is 7-12 and 2-5 in the WCC.
"This was a tough road match for us on the road. But we stayed together and really grinded to get the win," said Bronco head coach Jon Wallace. "Taylor played really well tonight. Her attacking numbers were terrific. She is growing and learning right now and it's great to see!"
The Broncos hit .313 with 63 kills (16 e, 150 att.). They collected 63 assists, seven aces, five service errors, 81 digs and seven team blocks.
Santa Clara had four players with double digit kills. Sabrina Clayton scored 16, Nikki Hess 15, Taylor Milton 14 and Kaity Edwards 10. Kirsten Mead had 56 assists and seven digs. Four Broncos also collected double digit digs: Danielle Rottman led with 22, Milton and Hess both had 15 and Clayton collected 13. Edwards had a team-high five block assists.
"Dani was our best player on the court tonight," added Wallace. "She was really steady and played very well. Sabrina added a spark as well."
The Waves hit .246 with 59 kills (16 e, 175 att.). They collected 57 assists, six aces, 12 service errors, 59 digs and nine team blocks. Katie Messing scored 17 kills for Pepperdine. Julian Bergeson had 13 kills and Samantha Cash collected 10. Becca Strehlow had 48 assists and 12 digs. Allie Loitz had 14 digs.
The teams were back and forth the first set, including being tied 20-20. Clayton pulled the Broncos within one, trailing 23-22. After the Waves went up two, Milton scored another kill to pull within one again, down 24-23. Strehlow finished the set with a kill, 25-23. Santa Clara hit .171 with 13 kills in the first set (6 e, 41 att.). Pepperdine hit .220 with 16 kills in the first set (5 e, 50 att.).
The teams were tied 6-6 in the second set when the Broncos went on a run to take the lead. A kill by Taylor Milton made it 15-11 and another kill by Milton made it 18-12. The Broncos moved forward with a 19-14 lead in the second set. A kill by Clayton gave the Broncos set point and Milton clinched the set with a cross court kill, 25-19 Broncos.
The Broncos scored 17 kills, hitting .429 in the second set (2 e, 35 att.). The Waves hit .150 with 11 kills (5 e, 40 att).
The Broncos took a 3-1 lead in the third set. The teams were then tied up six times before the Broncos went ahead 10-8 on a kill by Milton. A kill by Lacey Maas made it 12-9. The teams tied it up six more times. A kill by Milton and ace by Rottman put SCU up 20-18. Timeout Pepperdine. The Broncos scored two of the next three to go up 22-19. Edwards and Mead collected a team block and then Pep called for time, down 23-20. A kill by Edwards gave SCU set point. After a team block by Pep, Clayton scored set point and the Broncos won 25-21. The Broncos had 14 kills in the third set, hitting .344 (3 e, 32 att.). The Waves hit .325 with 16 kills (3 e, 40 att.).
The teams tied it up twice in the early going in the fourth set. Pep took a 9-6 lead and then moved ahead 19-14. The Broncos scored three straight with the Waves sandwiching a timeout in there. The Broncos went up 23-20 on a Pep service error and a kill by Clayton. Clayton's kill gave SCU match point, but Messing scored her 17th kill to make it 24-23 Broncos. A kill by Hess gave the Broncos the fourth set 25-23 and the match. Pep hit .289 with 16 kills (3 e, 45 att). SCU hit .333 with 19 kills (5 e, 42 att.).
