With Sabrina Clayton and Nikki Hess both collecting 19 kills each, the Santa Clara volleyball team defeated No. 24 LMU in Los Angeles Saturday afternoon, giving the Lions just their third defeat in 20 matches this season. Set scores were 25-21, 19-25, 9-25, 25-18 and 16-14. It is Santa Clara's second road win vs. a ranked WCC team this year, adding to SCU's 3-1 win at No. 24 San Diego on Oct. 2.
"We played with good toughness and grit. I thought LMU at times played very well. We never gave up on our goal to win the match. We played with very good fight and I am very proud of them," said Bronco head coach Jon Wallace.
The Broncos move to 15-6 and 5-3 in the WCC and No. 24 LMU is 17-3 and 5-3 in the WCC.
The Broncos hit .283 with 62 kills (21 e, 145 att.). They collected 60 assists, five aces, eight service errors, 53 digs and 8.5 team blocks.
Hess hit .372 with her 19 kills (3 e, 43 att.), adding three digs and three block assists. Clayton hit .233 with her 19 kills (9 e, 43 att), adding an ace and seven digs. "They are both playing so well. Nikki has had a lot of game winners this year - it was great to see her get another one today," said Wallace.
Taylor Milton collected 15 kills, hitting .448 (2 e, 29 att.), with two assists, 11 digs and five block assists. "She was really a spark for us offensively this weekend," said Wallace.
Kirsten Mead had 54 assists, an ace and six digs.
Danielle Rottman collected 22 digs and GiGi Cresto scored two aces and a dig off the bench. "Dani has been awesome this weekend," said Wallace.
The Lions hit .345 with 68 kills (18 e, 145 att.). They collected 65 assists, four aces, eight service errors, 55 digs and eight team blocks. The Lions had four hitters with double digit kills: Litara Keil (17), Sarah Sponcil (16), Caitlin DeWitt (12) and Rachelle Suaava (11). Hannah Tedrow collected 57 assists and 11 digs. Kristen Castellanos added 14 digs.
LMU went up 5-2 in the early going of the first set. After the Lions took a 12-6 lead, SCU called for time. The Broncos scored seven of the next eight points to tie it up 13-13. The teams were then tied up four times before SCU took a 20-18 lead on a kill by Clayton. After back-to-back kills by Clayton and Milton, the Broncos took a 22-19 and LMU called for time. The Broncos scored three of the next four points, including an ace by GiGi Cresto win set one 25-21. SCU hit .378 in the first set, adding 17 kills (5 e, 34 att). Milton had seven kills and Hess added five. LMU hit .212 with 12 kills (5 e, 33 att.) in the first set. DeWitt added four kills.
The Broncos raced out to a 6-2 lead in the second set, including a kill by Kaity Edwards in the middle. After the Lions scored, Clayton got the Bronco sideout with a kill. LMU scored six straight to take a 9-7 lead when SCU called for time, down 9-7.
Clayton scored two kills sandwiched between another kill by DeWitt. Sponcil and Castellanos scored back to back to points to put them up 12-9. LMU won three of the next five points to take a 14-11 lead. LMU took a four point lead ona kill by DeWitt, 17-13 LMU. LMU went up 21-16 on back-to-back kills by Keil. Timeout Santa Clara. Hess collected kills between one by Keil, 22-18 Lions. LMU scored three of the next four to take set two 25-19. Santa Clara hit .419 with 17 kills (4 e, 31 att.). LMU hit .533 with 17 kills (1 e, 30 att.).
LMU ruled the third set, taking an 8-2 lead and then scoring eight of the next nine points to jump ahead 16-3. Timeout SCU. LMU scored five of the next seven to move ahead 21-5. The Broncos scored three of the next four before LMU scored two of the next three to win set three 25-9. SCU hit .040 with six kills (5 e, 25 att.). LMU hit .640 with 17 kills (1 e, 25 att.).
Two errors by Keil and two more attack errors by Sponcil and a kill by Hess put SCU up 6-2 early in the fourth set. The Lions tied it up at 7 and then the teams battled back and forth, tying it up three times. SCU took a 13-10 lead on three straight Lion errors. Timeout Lions. The Lions scored two of the next three out of their timeout, 14-12 SCU. The Broncos outscored the Lions four to two to take a 18-14 lead, with Hess and Clayton adding kills. LMU collected a team block to side out. But Clayton knocked in the back court for a Bronco sideout, 19-15 SCU. The Broncos scored two of the next three on an ace by Mead and Clayton's 15th kill of the match, 21-16 Broncos. The Broncos scored four of the next six points to close out the fourth set with a 25-18 victory, finishing it off with another ace by Cresto. SCU hit .265 with 14 kills (5 e, 34 att.). LMU hit .114 with 12 kills (8 e, 35 att.).
After the Broncos scored a couple in the fifth set, LMU ran off four straight points. Timeout Broncos. Sponcil scored her third kill of the set before Clayton's kill gave SCU the ball. Clayton collected an ace and after a Lion sideout, Hess scored and a bad set by the Lions tied it up 6-6. LMU scored a couple on kills, but Hess answered for her 18th kill of the day. The teams traded points again, with LMU taking a 9-8 lead on a service error by Cresto. SCU scored two of the next three, including an ace by Hess to tie it up 10-10. A kill by Clayton tied it up at 11, but the Lions added a couple of points on a kill and a team block. The Broncos called for time, trailing 13-11. The Broncos rallied again as Avery Bush served the ball into the net and Milton scored to tie it up 13-13. Timeout LMU.
A kill by Tedrow gave LMU match point, but Clayton scored her 19th kill of the match to tie it up at 14. Amber Mirabello hit the ball out and LMU called for time, down 15-14. Hess scored match point on a pass by Clayton to close out the match 16-14! SCU hit .286 with 8 kills (2 e, 21 att.) in the fifth set. LMU hit .318 with 10 kills (3 e, 22 att.).
"In the fifth set we stayed composed and got into a good passing rythmn which allowed our hitters to be more aggressive," said Wallace. "We made some small adjustments with our block to get some deflections from their attackers and then we were able to transition those into points through Sabrina, Nikki and Taylor."
