SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Santa Clara volleyball begins 2016 West Coast Conference play with a tough pair of road matches this week. The Broncos travel to Utah for a Thursday contest against No. 13 BYU, then head to Southern California for a Saturday tilt with No. 7 San Diego.
Santa Clara is just outside the AVCA Top 25; the team picked up 67 points in Monday's poll. The Broncos were ranked No. 17 last week and No. 19 in the previous week. They entered the Boise State Invitational at 9-0 — the best start in program history — and lost all three matches to close out nonconference play. Santa Clara is 2-0 against ranked opponents this season, with road victories over No. 7 USC Aug. 27 and No. 21 Louisville Sept. 2.
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THE BRONCOS
Santa Clara dropped Friday matches against Arizona State and Boise State before falling on Saturday against UC Davis at the Boise State Invitational.
Nikki Hess has been named to an All-Tournament team in each of the four preconference tournaments for the Broncos, including MVP honors at the Cal Classic. The Scottsdale, Ariz. native totaled 52 kills last weekend and averaged four kills per set in addition to 23 digs. Hess has tallied double-digit kills in five straight matches.
Taylor Laugero enters conference play ranked second in the WCC with 4.74 digs/set. She ranked 5th in the NCAA in digs/set after the first weekend of the season and 3rd after the second weekend. The freshman had 20+ digs in four straight matches Aug. 27-Sept. 3. Her 32 digs Sept. 3 against Auburn tied for fourth-most in single-match program history during the rally scoring era.
Middle blockers Jensen Cunningham and Hailey Lindberg are among the conference's most efficient hitters. Cunningham ranks third in the WCC with a .367 hitting percentage while Lindberg ranks fourth at .354. Cunningham hit .647 with 12 kills Friday against Boise State. Lindberg hit .500 with nine kills Friday against Arizona State.
The Broncos have played their last six matches without 2015 AVCA All-Pacific North Region and First Team All-WCC selection Kirsten Mead. She suffered an ankle injury in practice prior to the Cal Classic Sept. 9-10, which the Broncos won by defeating Grand Canyon, West Virginia and Cal. Mead averaged 11.3 assists/set (249 total) and 2.55 digs/set (56 total) alongside three double-doubles in six matches. The Broncos hit .259 and went 6-0 with Mead in the lineup; they have hit .205 and gone 3-3 without Mead.
Callie Jones has started the last six matches at setter. The freshman totaled 224 assists for an 8.96 assist/set average over the last two weekends. She racked up a 47-assist, 11-dig double Friday against Arizona State.
As a team, the Broncos have five players with 13+ aces: Hess (15), Sabrina Clayton (14), Cunningham (13), Laugero (13) and Shepherd (13). Clayton has led the WCC in aces/set in each of the last two seasons. Santa Clara ranks third in the conference with 1.65 aces/set and is tied for second in the WCC with a .176 opposing hitting percentage.
Head coach Jon Wallace feels good about where the team is at heading into WCC play. #StampedeTogether #SCUBroncos pic.twitter.com/NRZfD9eadm
— SantaClaraVolleyball (@scuvolleyball) September 20, 2016
SCU SEASON NOTES
- Santa Clara began the year with its best start in program history at 9-0, which marks just the fourth time in the 54-year program history that the Broncos started 6-0 or better. The team's previous best start was 7-0 in 2005, when it reached the NCAA Tournament's Final Four. The Broncos clinched their best start to a season with a four-set win over West Virginia on Saturday, Sept. 10 at the Cal Classic.
- Santa Clara defeated No. 7 USC 3-1 on Aug. 27. The Trojans are the highest-ranked team the Broncos have defeated in SCU regular season history. Santa Clara defeated No. 5 Arizona and No. 5 Stanford in back-to-back weeks during the 2005 NCAA Tournament.
- Kirsten Mead took home her second career West Coast Conference Player of the Week award Aug. 29.
- Santa Clara plays its first 14 contests away from the Leavey Center, which matches the longest stretch to start a season in program history. The Broncos have six true road matches and eight neutral site contests before their home opener Tuesday, Sept. 27 against Pacific. They had 14 straight contests away from home to start the 2012 campaign, and went 10-4 to open the season.
- The Broncos have earned three Tournament MVP awards and 10 All-Tournament team selections in the first four weeks of the season:
- USC Baden Invitational: Kirsten Mead (MVP), Nikki Hess, Taylor Laugero
- Active Ankle Challenge: Jensen Cunningham (MVP), Nikki Hess, Hailey Lindberg
- Cal Classic: Nikki Hess (MVP), Hailey Lindberg, Taylor Odom
- Boise State Invitational: Nikki Hess
The Cougars enter the weekend at 11-1 — the best nonconference record of all WCC teams. They began the year at 9-0 before losing a five-set match against Utah on Sept. 15. BYU bounced back with sweeps against Cal State Northridge and UNLV to wrap up nonconference play. The team has nine sweeps in its 11 victories and its last five wins have been three-set matches.
BYU leads the WCC in hitting percentage (.284) and opposing hitting percentage (.131, also good for 11th in the NCAA). The Cougars' offensive mark is .026 higher than the second-best team, San Diego, and their defensive mark is .045 lower than the teams tied for second-best, Santa Clara and Pepperdine. Individually, four Cougars lead the conference in major categories: Amy Boswell in hitting percentage (.398) and blocks/set (1.19), Mckenna Miller in kills/set (4.48) and Lyndie Haddock in assists/set (10.49).
The Toreros enter the week at 8-2, and finish up one of the toughest nonconference schedules in the country Tuesday at San Diego State. San Diego defeated Long Beach State, Cal State Fullerton and UC Santa Barbara last weekend to push its winning streak to seven matches. They have wins against No. 11 Stanford, No. 18 Colorado and No. 7 UCLA. The team's only two losses came against No. 3 Minnesota and No. 2 Wisconsin in their first three matches.
USD leads the country in kills/set (15.67) and assists/set (14.83). Lisa Kramer has a conference-leading 4.52 kills/set, Lauren Schad is second in the conference with a .392 hitting percentage and Hunter Jennings has the third-best dig/set average in the WCC (4.53).
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Go Broncos!
