SANTA CLARA, Calif. - A strong closing effort by first-place San Diego gave the Toreros a 25-17, 25-21, 27-25 win over Santa Clara volleyball on Saturday afternoon in a West Coast Conference match at Leavey Center.
The two squads battled evenly throughout the three sets, however, San Diego (20-5, 13-1) pulled ahead with late rallies in each set to get the win and remain atop the WCC standings.
In the opening set, Santa Clara (16-10, 6-7) trailed 12-8 but reeled off four straight points to tie it at 12-all. The teams exchanged points but at 14-14, the Toreros finished the set on a 11-3 run led by Katie Lukes' four kills during the stretch.
The Toreros outhit the Broncos .263 to .135 in the set with Lukes leading the way with seven kills. Odom led the Broncos with five blocks.
In the second stanza, both squads dug themselves out of four-point holes including Julia Sangiacomo's kill to tie it at 18-all. However, just as they did in the first set, the Toreros had a strong finish, closing out on a 7-3 run to take the set 25-21. Lukes' two kills in the set came during the crucial run.
In the third set, trailing 24-22 and facing match point, the Broncos tied it at 24-all on back-to-back kills by Allison Kantor and Sangiacomo. San Diego answered by taking three of the final four points to finish out the match at 27-25, including the match point kill by Lukes who finished with 11.
Thana Fayad led the Toreros with a dozen kills.
Sangiacomo, who tops the Broncos in kills, once again led the Broncos with a game-high 13. Kantor posted a double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs. Odom added nine kills.
NOTES
• San Diego leads the all-time series 40-34.
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