SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Jensen Cunningham set a pair of single-match block records for Santa Clara volleyball Saturday afternoon in a wild West Coast Conference tilt at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. The Broncos fought back from a two-set deficit and ultimately fell 30-28, 25-20, 19-25, 21-25, 15-12 against San Diego.
Cunningham tallied 16 block assists and 17 total blocks — both program records. Santa Clara's single-match high for total blocks in 2015 entering the game belonged to Lacey Maas, who has tallied eight blocks three times this year.
Nikki Hess tied a season-best effort and led all players with 22 kills while Maas tied a career high with 12 kills. Kirsten Mead led the Broncos (21-8, 12-5 WCC) with 44 assists and Danielle Rottman topped all players with 22 digs. Lisa Kramer led the Toreros (21-8, 14-3) with 19 kills and Kristen Gengenbacher had a match-high 57 assists.
Following the break, Rottman served the Broncos to a 20-14 lead as part of an 8-0 run. The Broncos won five points on blocks as part of that stretch; Cunningham and Hess contributed to three blocks apiece.
In the fourth set, Cunningham's kill started a 5-1 spree for Santa Clara as the Broncos pulled in front 20-13, the biggest lead of the match for either team. The sophomore capped the stanza with one of her five kills on the day. Cunningham had at least four block assists in three of the first four sets.
The Broncos and the Toreros were tied seven times in the first 16 points of the fifth set, before Kramer sparked a 4-0 San Diego run with two kills. Kramer had five kills in the final set, including the match-winner.
Santa Clara evened the score at 23-23 with a 5-0 run late in the first set, and got a kill from Hess to go on set point at 25-24. The Broncos fought off three set points before committing a pair of attack errors in the 58-point stanza.
Cunningham broke Annalisa Muratore's records for block assists (14) and total blocks (16); both records were set on Oct. 15, 2004 in a five-set win at San Francisco.
Santa Clara has a quick turnaround for its regular season finale at Pacific Tuesday night at 7 p.m. The Tigers defeated Portland and Gonzaga at home in their last two matches.
