SANTA CLARA, Calif. – After dropping a lengthy opening set, Santa Clara volleyball bounced back to claim the final three frames in convincing fashion Saturday against Pepperdine in a West Coast Conference match.
Nikki Hess posted a match-best 19 kills and nine digs, and Jensen Cunningham chipped in 15 kills to lead a balanced offensive attack for the Broncos (12-8, 3-5) in the 28-30, 25-10, 25-11, 25-14 victory.
Hannah Frohling and Tarah Wylie had 10 kills apiece for the Waves (8-12, 2-6), who had snapped a three-match skid with Friday's 3-0 win at San Francisco.
Santa Clara posted a .326 hitting percentage, its second-best output of the season and the team's top mark in conference play. The Broncos connected for a .400 hitting percentage in the second set — when they scored 12 of the first 14 points — and .423 in the third when they reeled off eight straight to build a 17-8 lead.
Callie Jones recorded a double-double with 42 assists and 13 digs to go along with a career-high six aces, and Sabrina Clayton just missed one with nine kills and 12 digs. Taylor Odom also had nine kills.
The Broncos were unfazed by relinquishing a 23-18 lead in the opening set of just their third appearance of the year in Leavey Center.
After the Waves evened the set with five straight points sparked by a pair of kills from Wylie, who had seven in the set, each team had chances to close it, but Pepperdine's Nikki Lyons snapped a 28-all tie with back-to-back kills.
"After that first game, our girls responded how we want them to respond," Santa Clara head coach Jon Wallace said. "Be really resilient with what we want to do, but more importantly they stuck to our game plan; they knew it was working and they just had to execute."
VIDEO | Highlights, interviews with Wallace/Hess after @SCUVolleyball's victory over Pepperdine! #StampedeTogether https://t.co/VJt7Ylobfx pic.twitter.com/IRZUNpyjaW
— Santa Clara Broncos (@SCUBroncos) October 16, 2016
Santa Clara trailed just once in the final three sets.
A kill by Frohling gave the Waves a 2-1 lead in the fourth set, but the Broncos scored the next five points highlighted by a pair of Hess kills sandwiched around one from Odom, who had an impressive .615 hitting percentage in the match. The Waves never got closer the remainder of the final set.
Cunningham was also efficient on the attack, posting a .542 hitting percentage.
"We were able to set Taylor Odom and Jensen Cunningham a lot," Wallace said. "They hit for a very high percentage and had great kills for us. When we pass and set those two it sets everything else up."
The Broncos were also solid at the defensive end, posting a co-season best 14 team blocks.
After playing their last two matches at home, the Broncos are back on the road next week. They play at Pacific Thursday and at Saint Mary's Saturday.
Notes: The Broncos won their third straight against Pepperdine … Callie Jones entered the match with nine service aces on the season and produced a career-high six … Nikki Hess (19) had her 14th double-digit kill outing of the season, including seventh match with at least 15 … Jensen Cunningham had her 11th double-digit kill performance of the year ... Cunningham was just one off her career high of 16 kills (vs. Marquette, Aug. 27, 2016).
