SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Santa Clara volleyball has played 19 of its first 22 matches this season away from home, and is set to play its next three contests and six of its last eight overall at the Leavey Center. The Broncos host Portland Thursday at 7 p.m. and Gonzaga Saturday at 1 p.m.

Santa Clara was swept in road matches at Pacific and Saint Mary's last week. The Broncos lost in three sets at Gonzaga Sept. 29 before rebounding to defeat Portland in five sets Oct. 1.

THE BRONCOS 

Junior setter Kirsten Mead played her first match in the team's last 15 contests Thursday night, but the Broncos fell to the Tigers 25-15, 25-23, 25-21. Santa Clara kept Saturday's contest close and reached the 21-point mark in all three sets, but fell to Saint Mary's 25-21, 25-22, 25-22.

Callie Jones started 14 matches at setter in place of the injured Mead from Sept. 9 through Oct. 15. The two split time in Santa Clara's last two matches and Jones had 35 assists to Mead's 30. Mead, a 2015 AVCA All-Pacific North Region and First Team All-WCC selection, suffered an ankle injury in practice prior to the Cal Classic Sept. 9-10.

Hailey Lindberg had a strong pair of matches last week, hitting .455 with 17 kills between the two contests. She topped the .400 mark for the seventh time this season by hitting .556 with 10 kills against the Tigers. Lindberg and Taylor Odom are tied for second on the team with 74 total blocks; Jensen Cunningham leads the Broncos with 76 blocks.

Nikki Hess has double-digit kills in five of her last eight matches, including a season-high 22 against Pacific Sept. 27. She led the Broncos with 18 total kills — split evenly at nine kills apiece against Pacific and Saint Mary's — and had 20 digs. Sabrina Clayton has double-digit kills in 14 of 22 matches and multiple aces in four of her last eight matches.

Taylor Laugero ranks second in the WCC with 4.4 digs/set. She has posted double-digit digs in 19 of 22 matches this season and topped the 20-dig mark seven times. She ranked fifth in the NCAA in digs/set after the first weekend of the season and third after the second weekend. Her 32 digs Sept. 3 against Auburn tied for fourth-most in single-match program history during the rally scoring era. 

The Broncos have dropped seven sets in their last three matches by an average of only 4.1 points. They won 21 points in all but one of those frames. Facing the Tigers last Thursday, Santa Clara committed a season-high 25 attack errors and hit for the second-lowest percentage of the year (.118).

PORTLAND (Click Here for team site)

The Pilots enter the week at 11-10 overall and 4-5 in West Coast Conference play. They were swept in their only match last week at Gonzaga. Portland upset No. 11 BYU at home on Oct. 13, which marked the program's first win over BYU and the highest-ranked opponents the Pilots have defeated in team history.

Portland ranks first in the WCC in total aces (138) and aces/set (1.7).  Setter Cali Thompson is second in the conference with 0.35 aces/set and 9.72 assists/set.

GONZAGA (Click Here for team site)

The Bulldogs enter the week at 12-7 overall and 5-4 in West Coast Conference play. They swept Portland at home in their lone match last week, and travel to San Francisco on Friday night. Gonzaga's only two losses in its last seven matches came against No. 5 San Diego and No. 11 BYU.

Gonzaga ranks second in the conference with 2.43 blocks/set. McKayla Ferris leads the Bulldog offense with 3.58 kills/set (fifth in the WCC) and Emmy Allen averages 3.51 kills/set (sixth in the WCC) as part of a balanced offense. Gonzaga is the only team in the conference with two players ranked in the top six of kills/set. Monica Gajda (0.32 — fifth) and Morgan Robinson (0.28 — 10th) are also in the WCC's top 10 in aces/set.

THURSDAY PROMOTIONS

Dig Pink: Breast Cancer Awareness Night

Giveaway (all fans while supplies last): Pink pom pom

SATURDAY PROMOTIONS

Halloween Spike-tacular: Wear your best Halloween costume to be entered into a raffle! Trick-or-treaters can get candy at the marketing table.

Bronco Kids Packet Pickup: Bronco Kids Members can pick up their t-shirt, drawstring bag, lanyard and membership card at the marketing table.

Postgame Autographs (Poster Giveaway Part 2): Approximately 10 minutes after the match, join the volleyball team on the court to receive the part 2 of our 4 part 2016 Santa Clara Volleyball schedule poster and player autographs! 

MORE INFO

Tickets: Season or single-game tickets are available. Click here to purchase online or contact the ticket office weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. at (408) 554-4660 or BroncoTickets@scu.edu. Group discounts are also available through our ticket office sales and service consultants. Doors to the Leavey Center, as well as its ticket office, are open one hour prior to the start of the match. 

Parking: For weekday matches, the Leavey Center lot, located on Accolti Way off El Camino Real, is free beginning one hour prior to first serve. Any other parking facility on campus will be subject to normal daily rates or restrictions, including the main structure, located adjacent to Stevens Stadium on Palm Drive. During the weekend, campus parking facilities are free (except for permit required locations). Click here for a campus map and parking restrictions.