SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Santa Clara volleyball recorded its first win over a Top 10 opponent since 2005 with a 15-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-20 victory over No. 10 BYU Saturday afternoon at the Leavey Center. The Broncos snapped the Cougars' nine-match winning streak and have won four straight home contests against BYU dating back to 2012.
Saturday marked the first time in 16 tries that Santa Clara defeated an opponent ranked in the Top 10. The Broncos recorded wins over No. 5 Stanford and No. 5 Arizona as part of their NCAA Tournament Final Four season in 2005. Their last Top 10 win in the regular season came against No. 10 Arizona on Sept. 4, 2003.
"We played really well as a team … it feels good to work hard for something and have it happen," senior Danielle Rottman said. "After our loss on Thursday, we worked really hard as a team in practice."
Santa Clara won the first four points of the fourth set on the strength of two kills apiece from Nikki Hess and Sabrina Clayton. The Broncos (10-4, 1-1 WCC) extended the lead to 11-6 on Kirsten Mead's ace, and the Cougars (11-2, 1-1 WCC) rallied for an 11-3 stretch to take a 17-14 lead. Trailing 19-15, the Broncos went on an 8-0 run — the longest for either team in the match — on the way to winning their third consecutive set to secure the team's first West Coast Conference win of the season.
Clayton recorded two of her 16 kills for the last two points of the day; she hit .333 and had seven digs in the win. Hess led all players and matched a season high with 20 kills. Rottman led the Broncos with 23 digs. Natasha Calkins and Jensen Cunningham tied for a team-best five blocks.
"It was a team effort; everyone was all over the court," Rottman said.
The Broncos found their offensive rhythm in the second frame as Mead set them to a .500 hitting percentage (17 kills – 3 errors – 28 attempts) on their way to evening the match at one set apiece. Clayton keyed a 3-0 run with a kill and an ace to put Santa Clara ahead 11-8. The Broncos led the rest of the way in the second set, which Hess capped with an ace. Mead had three kills by way of the dump in the second set — the Bronco setter finished the afternoon with a 46-assist, 12-dig double-double.
"We started noticing their blocking patterns, and I tried to spread the offense around more so our hitters would have more seams between the block on the outside," Mead said. "The hitters did a great job and the passing was good. That allowed me to have options on offense."
The Cougars led 8-3 early in the third set, and Santa Clara tied the score at nine by winning six of the next seven points; the Broncos had five blocks in that span. BYU went in front 20-18 on Camry Willardson's ace, but Santa Clara answered by taking the next three points — including two kills from Clayton — to take the lead. BYU's Cosy Burnett tied the score at 21 with a kill before Santa Clara won four of the next five points to close out the set. Anna McCreadie and Hess had the last two kills to put the Broncos in front two sets to one.
"We played our own game in the last three sets," Rottman said. "We needed to take it to them. We were a lot more aggressive in sets two, three and four."
BYU used two kills from Alexa Gray to go on a 4-0 run and take a 6-2 lead early in the opening frame. The Broncos pulled within two points of the Cougars twice in the first set, and cut the BYU lead to 15-12 on a kill by Hess. The Cougars won seven straight points en route to their opening stanza victory.
Santa Clara continues WCC action with three matches next week. The Broncos travel to Moraga, Calif. for a 7 p.m. matchup with Saint Mary's Tuesday night, then host Portland Thursday at 6 p.m. and Gonzaga Saturday at 2 p.m.
