PROVO, Utah – With a share of first place in the West Coast Conference on the line, the Santa Clara volleyball team was unable to overcome a strong effort by BYU, which prevailed Thursday night at home in four sets 25-19, 25-21, 23-25, 25-14.
Senior Alexa Gray posted a career-high 31 kills and had a match-best .464 hitting percentage for the 12th-ranked Cougars (24-3, 14-2) who took over sole possession of first place with two games remaining.
The Broncos (21-7, 12-4) had their three-match winning streak snapped and are now third in the WCC, also trailing San Diego (20-7, 13-3). Santa Clara, winners of 12 of its last 15, plays at San Diego Saturday. The Broncos close out the regular season Tuesday at Pacific.
Freshman Anna McCreadie tallied a career-high 14 kills and Nikki Hess added 13 for Santa Clara, which dealt the Cougars one of their three loses back in September.
Road victories are hard to come by in the WCC. BYU is a perfect 10-0 at home this year, while Santa Clara suffered just one home defeat in 12 games this year.
After BYU captured the first set, the Broncos were poised to even the match. They held a 16-11 lead following a kill by Sabrina Clayton on one of Kirsten Mead's match-best 49 assists, but BYU reeled off the next three points. The game went to be tied three more times before BYU took the lead for good at 22-21 on a Gray kill.
Santa Clara drew closer with a hard-fought win in the third set. BYU took the biggest lead of the game at 9-6 on a Gray kill, but the Broncos got back-to-back kills from Jensen Cunningham and Clayton to pull within one. A kill by Clayton followed by an attack error from Gray gave the Broncos a 12-11 lead.
But a pair of Santa Clara attack errors sandwiched around a Camry Williardson kill pushed BYU into a 23-22 lead. But after a timeout the Broncos got an attack error on blocks from Mead and Cunningham to regain serve where they closed out the game on back-to-back kills from that same duo.
Santa Clara could not gain its footing in the fourth set after an early 6-5 lead. Three straight errors pushed the BYU lead to 11-7. Later in the set, two kills by Gray in a four-straight point stretch increased the lead to 19-10 in a set where the Cougars hit at .533 percent clip.
The Broncos had an opportunity to pull out the first set, cutting an early seven-point deficit to 18-17 on a kill by Lacey Maas, but BYU reeled off six of the next seven points.
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Meet the Future of Bronco Volleyball — Class of 2020: Michelle Gajdka
December 16, 2015
Hess Named AVCA Honorable Mention All-American
December 9, 2015
Volleyball Leads WCC with Program Record Six All-Academic Honorees
December 8, 2015
Volleyball Earns First AVCA All-Region Awards since 2008
December 4, 2015
Volleyball Falls to Michigan in First Round of NCAA Tournament
December 2, 2015
Volleyball Begins NCAA Tournament Play Friday against Michigan
November 25, 2015
Volleyball Caps Regular Season with 3-1 Win at Pacific
November 23, 2015
Volleyball Plays Regular Season Finale Tuesday at Pacific
November 21, 2015
Volleyball Continues Road Trip Saturday at San Diego
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November 14, 2015
Volleyball Hosts Pepperdine for Home Finale, Senior Day
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Volleyball Sweeps Pepperdine on Senior Day
November 12, 2015
Volleyball Sweeps LMU for 20th Win of Season
November 5, 2015
Early-Set Runs Propel Volleyball to Sweep of San Francisco
November 3, 2015
Volleyball Begins Final Homestand Thursday against San Francisco
October 31, 2015
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October 30, 2015
First Place in the WCC on the Line for Volleyball at Portland
October 29, 2015
Volleyball Completes Season Sweep of Gonzaga
October 28, 2015
Volleyball Faces Gonzaga Thursday, Portland on Halloween Saturday
October 24, 2015
Volleyball Sweeps Saint Mary’s to Keep Pace in the WCC
October 22, 2015
Volleyball Defeats Pacific in Second Straight Five-Set Match
October 20, 2015
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October 17, 2015
Volleyball Edged in Close, Five-Set Heartbreaker at LMU
October 15, 2015
Volleyball Sweeps Pepperdine; on Longest Winning Streak since 2007
October 13, 2015
Volleyball Takes Season-Long Winning Streak to Pepperdine, LMU
October 10, 2015
Volleyball Sweeps USF for Fifth Straight Win
October 7, 2015
WCC-Leading Volleyball Travels to USF Friday
October 5, 2015
Kirsten Mead Named WCC Volleyball Player of the Week
October 3, 2015
Volleyball faces Gonzaga at home Saturday afternoon
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Volleyball Continues Busy Week, Hosts Portland Thursday Night
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Late Set Runs Key Volleyball’s Sweep at Saint Mary’s
September 28, 2015
Volleyball Set for Three WCC Matches in Five Days
September 26, 2015
Volleyball Bests No. 10 BYU 3-1 for First Top 10 Win since 2005
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Volleyball Falls to San Diego 3-1 in WCC Opener
September 22, 2015
Volleyball Opens WCC Play at Home vs. San Diego, No. 10 BYU
September 19, 2015
Volleyball Wins Sacramento State Invitational; Hess Named Tournament MVP
September 18, 2015
Volleyball Sweeps Kent State for Fourth Win in Five Matches
September 16, 2015
Volleyball Returns to California for Sacramento State Tournament
September 11, 2015
Volleyball Sweeps Iona, Falls to No. 4 Texas
September 10, 2015
Hess, Clayton Lead the Way in Volleyball's 3-1 Win at UTSA
September 8, 2015
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September 5, 2015
Volleyball Splits Two Matches to Finish Lobo Classic
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Volleyball Falls to New Mexico in Lobo Classic Opener
September 2, 2015
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August 29, 2015
Volleyball Defeats Rutgers 3-0; Faces UC Riverside at 7 p.m.
August 28, 2015
Volleyball Sweeps Weber State to Open 2015 Season
August 14, 2015
Volleyball Opens Practice for 2015 Season