Volleyball Sweeps Pacific in Regular-Season Finale, Odom Sets School Blocks Record

Volleyball Sweeps Pacific in Regular-Season Finale, Odom Sets School Blocks Record

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara volleyball had a dramatic end to its regular-season finale.

Taylor Odom had 13 kills on a blistering .611 attack percentage while setting the school's single-season blocks record and Kathryn Decker chipped in 10 kills as the Broncos were able to outlast Pacific and claim a 25-16, 26-24, 26-24 victory in Tuesday's West Coast Conference match.

Odom was credited with five blocks, including four in the final set, to push her season total to 181, surpassing the Santa Clara mark of Stacey MacDonough (179) in 1988.

Odom also had seven kills in the third set as the Broncos (20-11, 10-8) rallied from a four-point deficit with a 6-0 run and then closed the match by scoring four of the final five. Odom had four kills and three blocks in the team's final eight points.

The Broncos, who won four of their final five regular-season matches, outhit the Tigers .259 to .143. Santa Clara finished in sole possession of fourth place in the conference standings.

Riley Patterson had a double-double with a match-high 17 kills and 11 digs, and Allison Dennemann chipped in nine kills for the Tigers (13-17, 5-13) who suffered 24 attack errors to just 11 for the Broncos.

Santa Clara had a mostly easy time in the opening set as it pulled away with a 6-0 run to build a 23-12 lead. Michelle Shaffer had two of her five service aces in that stretch.

Pacific pushed back in the second set, rebounding from a five-point deficit to take a 23-22 lead on a kill from Patterson, but Odom followed with a kill and the Broncos were able to take advantage of three attack errors to survive.

Allison Kantor had eight kills and seven digs, and Gretchen Reinert helped the Santa Clara defense cause with 20 digs.

BLOCK PARTY
Taylor Odom entered the week leading the WCC and ranking third in the NCAA with 176 total blocks and 1.63 blocks/set. Her total already set Santa Clara's single-season total block record in the rally-scoring era and she ends the regular season with 181 blocks.

NOTES
• Pacific leads the all-time series Pacific leads 28-12. Santa Clara won 3-1 at Pacific on Oct. 26.
• The Broncos reached the 20-win plateau for the first time since 2015 when they advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Santa Clara hit 20 wins for the 15th time in school history.
• Reinert posted 20 or more digs for the sixth time this season.
• Shaffer's five aces were her second-most in a match this season. She matched a program record with eight aces in a Sept. 14 victory against Northern Colorado.

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