SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Santa Clara volleyball can move into sole possession of first place in the West Coast Conference if the team defeats Portland on The Bluff Saturday. The Broncos and Pilots are set for a noon PDT matchup in the Chiles Center on Halloween Day. 

Santa Clara is locked in a three-way tie for first place with BYU and San Diego; all three teams are 9-2 in conference play. The Cougars swept the Toreros in Provo Friday night.

SANTA CLARA (18-5, 9-2 WCC) at Portland (12-10, 2-8)

Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015 • Noon PDT

Game #24 • Away Game #10 • Portland, Ore.

Live Stats: www.portland.statbroadcast.com

Video: TheW.tv

Series: Santa Clara leads 52-8

Previous Meeting: Oct. 1, 2015 in Santa Clara — Santa Clara won 3-2

Last Season: Oct. 9, 2014 in Santa Clara — Santa Clara won 3-1

Nov. 8, 2014 in Portland — Santa Clara won 3-0

THE BRONCOS

Santa Clara completed a season sweep of Gonzaga Thursday night at the Martin Centre 25-12, 17-25, 25-15, 25-23. Sabrina Clayton led all players with 17 kills and Nikki Hess added 15. Kirsten Mead tallied 46 assists and had 16 digs for the Broncos (18-5, 9-2 WCC), who are 9-1 in their last 10 matches.

Santa Clara has players ranked in the top three of four different major statistical categories in the WCC, the most of all conference teams (per set):

Aces — Sabrina Clayton 0.49/s (1^st) | Kirsten Mead 0.41/s (2^nd)

Assists — Kirsten Mead 11.01/s (2^nd)

Digs — Danielle Rottman 4.79/s (1^st)

Blocks — Lacey Maas 1.27/s (2^nd)

The next closest team is Pacific, who has players ranked in the top three of three major statistical categories. The Broncos also have at least one player in the top five of all major statistical categories (per set).

Mead is the only WCC player ranked in the top two individually of multiple categories (aces/set, assists/set). As a team, the Broncos entered the week 15^th in the NCAA with 1.71 aces/set, and individually, Clayton ranks 13^th in the NCAA with 0.49 aces/set. She had a match-clinching ace against the Gaels on Saturday.

THE PILOTS

Portland won its WCC opener Sept. 24 against Saint Mary's, lost eight consecutive conference matches, including four straight sweeps, prior to a five-set victory over San Francisco Thursday night. Brent Crouch is in his second season as head coach of Portland.

Portland Category Leaders in the WCC's Top 10

Hitting Percentage — Katie Sullivan .370 (2^nd)

Kills — Emily Liger 3.66/s (7^th)

Assists — Djurdjina Milovic 10.49/s (4^th)

Service Aces — Liger 0.30/s (10^th)

GO BRONCOS!