ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Santa Clara volleyball dropped its first match of the 2015 season Friday night 22-25, 20-25, 20-25 to the New Mexico Lobos at the Johnson Center. The Broncos could not hold a lead despite building a three-point advantage in the first set, and multiple eight-point leads in the third set.
Sabrina Clayton made her season debut for the Broncos (3-1), and led all players with 13 kills. Nikki Hess finished a close second with 12 kills and added 11 digs for her second double-double of the season.
Clayton posted the first Bronco kill of the contest early in the first set to tie the match at 2-2; she tallied seven kills and a .500 hitting percentage in the opening frame. Santa Clara built as large as a 13-10 lead before the Lobos (3-1) went on a 7-0 run to pull in front. Kills from Clayton tied the match at 21 and 22, and New Mexico won the next three points to take the first set.
The Lobos hit .233, the highest percentage for either team in a single set, in the second stanza. Simone Henderson assisted on a block with Cassie House and added two kills to help the hosts jump out to a 5-1 lead. Later in the second set, Santa Clara used a 6-0 run — capped by a kill from Kirsten Mead — to tie the score at 18. New Mexico finished the set by winning seven of the last nine points, including four in a row.
Attack errors made the difference in the first and third frames; the Broncos committed 10 in each set while the Lobos committed five in the first set and six in the third set. Early in the third frame, Santa Clara pulled ahead 13-5 with an 8-1 run that featured multiple kills by Hess, Clayton and Jensen Cunningham. The Lobos put together separate 6-0 and 8-0 runs en route to closing out the match with Julia Warren's kill.
Mead finished with a match-high 33 kills and Danielle Rottman added 24 digs. Devanne Sours led the Lobos with 10 kills, Hannah Johnson had 30 assists and Mercedes Pacheco added 14 digs.
Santa Clara returns to the court for Saturday matches against SMU at 9:30 a.m. and Cal State Fullerton at 4 p.m.
MATCH NOTES: First serve was at 6:35 p.m. MDT … time of the match was 1:42 … attendance was 1,324.
