SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Santa Clara volleyball is set for its final road matches of the season this week. The Broncos head south to face Pepperdine Thursday at 7 p.m. and Loyola Marymount Saturday at Noon.
Following a one-contest week in which the Broncos swept San Francisco at home, the team is looking for the season sweep over the Waves and a season split with the Lions. Santa Clara lost in three sets to LMU on Oct. 13, then rebounded for a four-set win over Pepperdine Oct. 15.
THE BRONCOS
Santa Clara combined solid defense and a strong offensive attack to post a convincing sweep of San Francisco 25-17, 25-16, 25-18 Friday night in Leavey Center. Senior Madison Dutra (eight) and freshman Ngozi Nwabuzoh (seven) each tallied career highs in kills for the Broncos. As a team, Santa Clara posted a .333 hitting percentage in the match, their second-highest offensive mark of the season (.371 – Stony Brook – Sept. 3).
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. She missed 14 contests in the middle of the season.
Nikki Hess did not play against the Dons due to injury, which marked just the second time in her career that she did not take the court for the Broncos. Hess had 19 kills in each of the Broncos' two previous matches. She has topped the 1,000 mark in career kills and digs for the Broncos.
Sabrina Clayton has led the WCC in aces/set for each of the last two seasons, and is in the mix at the top of the WCC again in 2016. She is tied for first in the conference with 0.35 aces/set, the same mark as San Francisco's Tyna Adamcikova and Portland's Monica Gajda. Clayton has an ace in nine consecutive matches and multiple aces in three straight tilts. She has notched 17 of her 32 aces on the season over the last to matches.
Taylor Laugero ranks second in the WCC with 4.46 digs/set, just 0.12/set behind Pacific's Katrin Gotterba. She has posted double-digit digs in 22 of 25 matches during her freshman campaign and hit the 20-dig mark eight 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.
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's nine straight regular season match wins in 2016 (10 straight dating back to the 2015 regular season finale against Pacific) marked the longest streak since the team won 15 matches in a row in 2005.
- 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 played its first 14 contests away from the Leavey Center, which matches the longest stretch to start a season in program history. The Broncos had six true road matches and eight neutral site contests leading up to their home opener against Pacific, and posted a 9-5 record in that stretch. They had 14 straight contests away from home to start the 2012 campaign, and went 10-4 to open the season.
- The Broncos 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
PEPPERDINE (Click here for team site)
The Waves enter Thursday's match at 10-16 overall and 4-10 in WCC play. They dropped road matches at Portland last Thursday (four sets) and Gonzaga last Saturday (five sets). In its last seven matches Pepperdine is 2-5, with wins coming in the only two home tilts of that stretch.
Jasmine Gross leads the conference with 1.31 blocks/set, which ranks 36th in the NCAA. Her 130 total blocks are good for 20th in the nation. Heidi Dyer is one of only 18 players in the country and two players in the conference who have posted a triple-double on the season. She is tied for fifth in the NCAA with six triple-doubles on the year.
LOYOLA MARYMOUNT (Click here for team site)
The Lions enter the week at 17-9 overall and 8-6 in WCC play. They host San Francisco on Thursday night. LMU has swept three straight matches, including road victories over Gonzaga and Portland last week. Overall, the Lions have tallied sweeps in 14 of their 17 wins.
As a team, LMU is 17th in the NCAA in assists/set and 26th in kills/set — the Lions rank second in the conference in both categories. Sarah Sponcil's 3.60 kills/set lead an offense that is hitting .259 on the year.
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GO BRONCOS!
