Returning home for its final four regular season matches of the year, No. 25 Santa Clara hosts LMU on Thurs., Nov. 13 at 6 p.m. and then Pepperdine at 1 p.m. on Sat., Nov. 15. Winning its last four matches in the West Coast Conference, including its 20th victory of the season at Portland on Nov. 8, Santa Clara jumped into the AVCA top 25 this week. They are ranked No. 25.
Bronco head coach Jon Wallace believes the team is still in the hunt for both the WCC title an NCAA tournament bid. "The goals of this program are year in year out to win the league and make the tournament. Going forward these girls have worked so hard in their daily routines and their preparation that they see LMU on Thursday night as the next match and they're excited to play."
The Broncos are 20-7 this season and 10-4 in the WCC. They are currently in sole possession of second place. Santa Clara has four top 25 wins to its credit this season, including a defeat of No. 11 BYU on Oct. 30.
In addition to its success this season, Wallace likes the closeness the team has developed as well. "They see this weekend as another opportunity to compete, have fun and get another win for the program. And then we'll move on to Pepperdine for Saturday. This team is really comfortable in their own routines and how they prepare every day."
The Broncos rank No. 3 nationally in service aces per set (1.86), No. 4 in team service aces (182) and No. 24 in assists per set (13.14).
Nikki Hess leads the team with 3.54 kpg and is fourth with 2.12 dpg. Sabrina Clayton scores 3.40 dpg and is first in the WCC with .46 sapg. Taylor Milton is third with 2.83 kpg and second with 2.26 dpg. Kaity Edwards leads the team in hitting at .318.
Kirsten Mead is No. 2 nationally with 11.81 apg and No. 2 in the league in total assists (1,051). Clayton is No. 11 in the nation with 44 aces and No. 15 with .46 sapg — she leads the WCC in both categories. Danielle Rottman is No. 2 in the WCC in digs (444) and digs per game (4.63).
LMU is 20-5 this season and 8-5 in the WCC. The Lions are 6-4 on the road, including 3-4 in league play. After dropping three matches, including a 3-2 loss vs. SCU on Oct. 18, they have won three straight matches heading into Thursday. The Lions are led by Caitlin DeWitt, who is hitting .282 with 3.73 kpg. Litara Keil is second on the team with 3.47 and leads the team in hitting at .348.
"Caitlin is a great player and she brings a lot of talent to the LMU team," Wallace said. "They're healthy now and they've been playing really well all year. They've had great upsets over UCLA and some other teams and they're at full strength and healthy and it should be a great match going Thursday night."
The Broncos have won four straight, including a 3-2 win at Gonzaga on Nov. 6. Wallace has been preaching playing with grit and executing at critical times and he saw that in the Gonzaga match. "Gonzaga's Savannah Blinn is a hard girl to defend. Our team rose to the occasion and ultimately when we got into the fifth set after calming down a little bit - we knew it was about execution and our girls executed flawlessly."
Talking about this week, Wallace reflected back to January, when the team began its SPARTA workouts. He said the hidden gem of SPARTA isn't the physical changes the team has made, but the mentality changes that the team has gone through. "Working hard, being diligent, will give you great results and they're seeing those results. They're feeling those results, and they've gained confidence because of what they've seen and what they've gone through," Wallace said. "Dani is much more efficient as an athlete. The changes for Sabrina have been enormous. She's doing things we never thought she would do a year ago and it has a lot to do with the SPARTA workouts. We give SPARTA a great compliment in terms of not only developing our girls physically but really helping them mature as athletes and making them a lot tougher."
"We have four more home matches and every bit of support helps and it starts with the Ruff Riders," Wallace said. "We had great support from the men's crew – they came out in Halloween costumes. And so much support from all of the Bronco student-athletes that are at our matches. It's always great to represent them and play in front of them. They give us extra energy to compete at our best."