WATCH | Volleyball's Pre-conference Practice — EYEBRONCO

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Santa Clara volleyball returns home from a successful nine-match road trip to begin West Coast Conference play this week. The 9-3 Broncos host San Diego Thursday at 6 p.m. and No. 10 BYU Saturday at 1 p.m., and have won six of their last seven matches. Santa Clara won the Sacramento State Invitational last week by defeating Kent State, Nevada and Sacramento State in California's capitol city.

SANTA CLARA (9-3) vs. San Diego (6-5)

Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015 • 6 p.m. PDT

Game #13 • Home Game #4 • Santa Clara, Calif.

Live Stats: www.santaclara.statbroadcast.com

Video: TheW.tv

Series: Santa Clara leads 34-30

Last Season: Oct. 2, 2014 in San Diego— Santa Clara won 3-1

Nov. 1, 2014 in Santa Clara — Santa Clara won 3-2

SANTA CLARA (9-3) vs. No. 10 BYU (10-1)

Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015 • 1 p.m. PDT

Game #14 • Home Game #5 • Santa Clara, Calif.

Live Stats: www.santaclara.statbroadcast.com

Video: TheW.tv

Series: BYU leads 6-3

Last Season: Oct. 4, 2014 in Provo— BYU won 3-0

Oct. 30, 2014 in Santa Clara — Santa Clara won 3-0

THE BRONCOS

Santa Clara opened play at the Sacramento State Invitational with a 25-14, 25-16, 25-22 victory over Kent State Friday night at Colberg Court. The Broncos hit .352 as a team and outblocked the Golden Flashes 12-4.

The Broncos won the invitational Saturday on the strength of victories against Nevada and the host Hornets. Santa Clara began its final doubleheader prior to conference play with a 25-9, 25-18, 25-16 victory over the Wolf Pack, and snapped Sacramento State's 12-match winning streak with a 25-21, 25-23, 18-25, 25-22 win in the nightcap. 

Nikki Hess combined for 41 kills in three matches and was named tournament MVP. Sabrina Clayton and Kirsten Mead were named to the all-tournament team. This season marks the third time in the last four years that the Broncos have started the year at 8-3 or better.

Santa Clara has at least one player ranked in the top three of the WCC for all five major statistical categories:

Aces — Clayton 0.61/s (1^st), Mead 0.46/s (2^nd)

Kills — Hess 4.29/s (3^rd)

Assists — Mead 11/s (3^rd)

Digs — Danielle Rottman 4.77/s (1^st)

Blocks — Jensen Cunningham 1.38/s (2^nd)

Hess' 4.36 k/s are good for 23^rd in the country and Rottman's 5.28 d/s are good for 22^nd in the country.

THE OPPONENTS 

San Diego began the year at 5-1, and has lost four of its last five matches to enter the week at 6-5. The Toreros  entered last weekend ranked No. 21 in the country, and fell 3-2 to Long Beach State and 3-1 to UC Irvine as part of the Long Beach State Tournament. Jennifer Petrie is in her 17^th season as head coach of San Diego.

USD Category Leaders (Individual Conference Rank if Top 10)

Hitting Percentage — Lisa Kramer .389 (3^rd)

Kills — Kramer 3.57/s (10^th)

Assists — Kriste Gengenbacher 6.61/s (9^th)

Service Aces — Hunter Jennings 0.31/s

Blocks — Jennings 1.23/s (4^th)

Digs — Jennings 4.17/s (4^th)

No. 10 BYU posted the second-best non-conference record of WCC schools with a 10-1 mark; only San Francisco (13-0) had a better winning percentage. The Cougars have won eight matches in a row and taken 14 of the last 15 sets they have played. In their second match of the season, BYU upset No. 7 North Carolina as part of the Women of Troy Baden Invitational. They top the WCC with a .122 opposing hitting percentage.

Heather Olmstead is in her first season as head coach of BYU. She was an associate head coach on the 2014 Cougar team that finished as the national runner-up.

BYU Category Leaders (Individual Conference Rank if Top 10) 

Hitting Percentage — Amy Boswell .386 (4^th)

Kills — Alexa Gray 4.34/s (2^nd)

Assists — Camry Willardson 9.00/s (9^th)

Service Aces — Boswell 0.44/s (5^th)

Blocks — Boswell 1.39/s (1^st)

Digs — Ciara Parker 3.78/s (7^th)

GO BRONCOS!