SANTA CLARA, Calif. — In its first West Coast Conference match of the 2015 season, Santa Clara volleyball fell to San Diego 25-13, 18-25, 20-25, 17-25 Thursday night at the Leavey Center. The Broncos hit .583 in the opening set, the most decisive of the match, and the Toreros rallied to take three straight sets en route to winning the match.
The Broncos (9-4) commanded the opening set by jumping out to a 7-1 lead against the Toreros (7-5). Sabrina Clayton, Nikki Hess and Jensen Cunningham recorded kills for the match's first three points; Anna McCreadie and Cunningham combined for a block to make the score 4-0. The Broncos pushed the lead to 13-4 with a 5-1 run, and closed out the set on a 4-1 run, which Kirsten Mead finished with a flip over the net.
Santa Clara hit .583 (15 K – 1 E – 24 TA) in the first frame, including perfect 1.000 hitting percentages from Cunningham (4 K – 4 TA) and Natasha Calkins (3 K – 3 TA). Hess led the Broncos and tied for a match-high 17 kills, while Cunningham had 12 kills and a .556 hitting percentage on the night. Mead had 43 assists and Danielle Rottman tallied 18 digs.
San Diego broke a 7-7 tie on one of Canace Finley's 14 kills and a combined block from Lisa Kramer and Addie Picha to pull ahead by two points in the second set. Santa Clara cut the lead to two four times, and pulled within a point three times, but could not level the score. The Toreros ended the set on a 5-1 run, capped by a kill and an ace from Kramer, who tied Hess with a match-high 17 kills.
Following the break, Santa Clara led by as many as three in the third set, and San Diego broke an 18-18 tie by winning seven of the last nine points in the frame. The Toreros held a 10-4 edge in the fourth set on the strength of multiple kills from Picha, Kramer and Finley. Trailing 18-10, Santa Clara won four straight points on two kills and a block solo from Hess alongside an ace from Rottman, forcing a San Diego timeout. The Toreros won seven of the next 10 points to close out the match.
Santa Clara continues WCC play Saturday at the Leavey Center with a matchup against No. 10 BYU at 1 p.m.