SAN ANTONIO — Santa Clara volleyball began a three-game Texas road trip with a 25-17, 17-25, 25-22, 25-20 victory over UTSA Thursday afternoon at the Convocation Center. Nikki Hess and Sabrina Clayton combined for 37 kills, and joined Kirsten Mead as the three Broncos to record a double-double in the win.
The Roadrunners had won 24 of their last 27 matches entering the contest, including seven of eight to start the 2015 season. They posted a 10-1 home record last year.
"That was a big match for us," Bronco head coach Jon Wallace said. "We faced a good opponent and found a way to win. The girls rallied and played their best volleyball of year."
Clayton had 19 kills and Hess added 18; both players recorded 11 digs to round out their double-double efforts. Mead had a season high 49 assists and added 17 digs. Danielle Rottman led all Broncos with 21 digs as one of five Santa Clara players to notch at least 11 digs, and Jensen Cunningham topped the team with six blocks.
In the opening set, Santa leveled the score at 3-3 on a combined block from Natasha Calkins and Anna McCreadie. The Broncos and Roadrunners traded the next 11 points before Santa Clara used combined block efforts from Hess and Cunningham on two straight plays to take a 10-8 lead. Gigi Cresto's ace gave the Broncos their biggest lead of the set at 18-14 en route to a 25-17 set win. Santa Clara hit .302 and had five blocks to start the match, while UTSA did not have a block in the first set.
Santa Clara recorded kills on 16 of its 17 points in the second set. UTSA broke a 7-7 tie with a 6-0 run en route to winning their only set of the match prior to the break.
The third set proved to be the closest of the afternoon, as it featured 13 ties and five lead changes. There were 15 ties and six lead changes between the other three sets combined. Hess came through with a kill to break a 19-19 tie and give the Broncos a lead they would not relinquish. Calkins' kill put the Broncos up 24-22, and Cunningham clinched the set on a kill after a Roadrunner timeout.
Santa Clara led the entire way in the final set, as five different Broncos recorded a kill to build an 11-4 lead. Santa Clara got to set point at 24-13, and the Roadrunners answered with a 7-0 run to make the score 24-20. Following a Santa Clara timeout, the Broncos clinched the final set and the match on Tessa Dahnert's attack error.
The Broncos return to the court for a Saturday doubleheader against Iona at 8 a.m. PDT and No. 4 Texas at 5:30 p.m. PDT in tomorrow's Texas Classic.
"We had a very encouraging effort tonight," Wallace said. "We still need to get better, and I like the direction our team is heading in right now."
GAME NOTES: Time of the match was 2:00 … attendance was 456.
