BOISE, Idaho — No. 17 Santa Clara volleyball closed out the Boise State Invitational with a 25-21, 25-16, 19-25, 25-20 defeat against UC Davis Saturday afternoon at Bronco Gym. The Broncos finish their nonconference slate at 9-3.
Nikki Hess was named to the All-Tournament Team. She totaled 52 kills on the weekend and had four kills per set between matches against Arizona State, Boise State and UC Davis. She added 23 digs, three aces, three blocks and two assists.
Hess finished Saturday's match with 16 kills. Sabrina Clayton hit .435 with 12 kills and six digs. Callie Jones led all players with 37 assists, Taylor Laugero had 16 digs and Taylor Odom tallied eight blocks. UC Davis' Lauren Matias hit .405 with a match-high 22 kills and Heather Reed led all players with 25 digs.
The Broncos (9-3) and Aggies (7-6) began the match with a very close opening frame. Neither side led by more than two points until UC Davis broke an 18-18 tie with a 5-0 run. Brianna Karsseboom had five first-set kills for the Aggies.
Santa Clara opened the second set on a 4-0 run and UC Davis responded by winning six points in a row. The Aggies steadily built on the lead with four separate 4-0 stretches and led by as many as nine points.
The teams played another tight set out of the break as they were knotted up 14 times in the first 30 points. Trailing 15-14, Santa Clara went on a 4-0 run that featured kills from Hess and Hailey Lindberg. UC Davis cut the deficit to one at 19-18 before the Broncos won four straight points — and six of the next seven — to claim their first set of the afternoon. Santa Clara hit .500 in the third set and Hess had six kills.
In the fourth set, UC Davis won four straight points to pull ahead 9-5; Brianna Karssebroom had back-to-back kills at the end of the run. Later in the set, the Aggies used a 6-1 stretch — including a pair of kills from Emily Allen and Lauren Jackson — to distance themselves from the Broncos en route to the match win.
Santa Clara begins West Coast Conference play next Thursday at BYU, followed by a Saturday matchup at San Diego. The Broncos play their first home match of the season on Tuesday, Sept. 27 against Pacific.
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