TICKETS | WCC STATS | NCAA STATS
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Santa Clara volleyball begins its final homestand of the 2015 season Thursday when it hosts San Francisco in the Leavey Center. The 6 p.m. West Coast Conference tilt is the only match of the week for the Broncos.
Santa Clara enters the week trailing co-conference leaders San Diego and BYU (9-2 WCC) by half a game. The Broncos boast an overall winning percentage of .750 on the season, second-best in the conference. The team hosts its next three contests before closing out the 2015 regular season with a three-match road trip.
"We still have a chance to win the conference and we're in a really good spot," head coach Jon Wallace said. "Right now, we're trying to get our girls to embrace and enjoy the challenges ahead of us. We want them to enjoy the level of competition for these next three weeks.
"USF has some explosive hitters. Katarina Pilepic is one of the best in our conference at attacking. Girls like that are always a handful. We have to contain her and be mindful of the other girls on the team. Our mentality is we're going to compete and play our brand of volleyball — serve tough, pass well and make it hard for the other team to score points."
SANTA CLARA (18-9, 9-3 WCC) vs. San Francisco (16-9, 3-9)
Thursday, Nov. 5, 2015 • 6 p.m. PDT
Game #25 • Home Game #10 • Santa Clara, Calif.
Live Stats: santaclara.statbroadcast.com
Video: TheW.tv
Series: Santa Clara leads 62-13
Previous Meeting: Oct. 9, 2015 in San Francisco — SCU won 3-0
Last Season: Sept. 26, 2014 in San Francisco — USF won 3-0
Nov. 20, 2014 in Santa Clara — SCU won 3-0
THE BRONCOS
Santa Clara got out to a 2-1 lead and overcame a seven-point deficit in the fourth set to defeat Gonzaga 25-12, 17-25, 25-15, 25-23 Thursday night at the Martin Centre. The Broncos won for the eighth time in their last nine matches away from home in the WCC contest.
The Broncos battled back after trailing by one set twice Saturday afternoon in the Chiles Center, and ultimately fell to Portland 25-20, 13-25, 25-18, 22-25, 15-16. Three Broncos set career highs on the afternoon including Danielle Rottman with 34 kills, the third-most in program history for a single match. Sabrina Clayton combined for 39 kills in the two Northwest matches.
Clayton ranks first in the conference and 11th in the NCAA with 0.49 aces/set. Rottman is first in the WCC with 4.89 digs/set.
THE DONS
San Francisco has lost its last three matches entering the week — a pair of sweeps against Pacific and Gonzaga bookended a five-set loss against Portland. They rank third on the conference with a .250 hitting percentage.
The Dons have WCC victories this season against Gonzaga, Portland and Saint Mary's. Gilad Doron is in his ninth season as head coach of San Francisco.
San Francisco Category Leaders in the WCC's Top 10
Hitting Percentage — Madison Murtagh .339 (3rd)
Kills — Katarina Pilepic 3.85/s (6th)
Assists — Kiara McKibben 6.55/s (9th)
Blocks — Murtagh 1.17/s (4th)
Digs — Kim Gutierrez 4.00/s (4th)
GO BRONCOS!
