LOS ANGELES — Santa Clara volleyball made program history Saturday morning, less than 24 hours into the 2016 regular season. The Broncos defeated No. 7 USC 22-25, 25-11, 25-20, 25-17 at the Galen Center as part of the USC Baden Invitational — the Trojans are the highest-ranked team the Broncos have defeated in SCU's regular season history.

Prior to Saturday, the highest-ranked opponent Santa Clara defeated in its regular season history was No. 9 Arizona State on Oct. 2, 1982 in a five-set contest.

Against USC, Santa Clara built early leads in the middle sets by starting the second set on a 6-0 run and the third set on an 8-0 run. In the fourth stanza, the Broncos (2-0) went on a 12-3 stretch to take an 18-7 lead. They led most of the way in the first set until the Trojans (0-2) rallied to take the opening frame.

Sabrina Clayton topped the Broncos (2-0) with 14 kills while Nikki Hess added 13 kills and 16 digs for a double-double. Kirsten Mead had 43 assists and Taylor Laugero recorded 27 digs. As a team, the Broncos aced the Trojans 11 times.

Santa Clara recorded wins over No. 5 Stanford and No. 5 Arizona in the postseason as part of its NCAA Tournament Final Four campaign in 2005. Last season, the team took down No. 10 BYU 3-1 at home on Sept. 26. The team's win on Saturday was its first in three tries against USC.

The Broncos round out the USC Baden Invitational tonight against Marquette at 5 p.m.

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Go Broncos!