AUBURN, Ala. - Santa Clara volleyball entered its matchup against Auburn coming off a pair of tournament wins, but the Broncos were unable to solve an even hotter opponent despite a thrilling comeback bid.
The Tigers (6-0) remained perfect on the season by holding off Santa Clara for a 25-21, 26-24, 23-25, 20-25, 15-12 victory on Sunday.
Entering the match Auburn had yet to drop a set on the season but the Broncos (3-5), who knocked off South Carolina on Friday and Clemson on Saturday in the KSU Challenge at Kennesaw State, never trailed in winning both the third and fourth.
However, they weren't able to carry that momentum through the fifth set where Auburn was never behind. Santa Clara tied it at 12-all but Auburn's Rebekah Rath had three of her 24 kills to finish off the match.
Julia Sangiacomo (25 kills/18 digs), Michelle Shaffer (20 kills and 10 digs) and Sophia Tulino (16 kills/11 digs) each had double-doubles for Santa Clara which was outhit .260 to .215.
Liz Reich tallied 17 kills and Vall Green 12 for the Tigers.
NOTES
- The Broncos won the lone previous meeting with Auburn, knocking off the Tigers, 3-1, on Sept. 3, 2016, in the Active Ankle Challenge (Louisville, Ky.). Santa Clara now holds a 9-8 all-time record vs. current members of the SEC.
- The opening set was tied 10 times with six lead changes but only one after Santa Clara pulled ahead 9-8. The Broncos remained in the lead until a kill from Val Green put Auburn ahead 21-20. That was in the midst of a 9-1 run by the Tigers to finish the set.
- The second set was tied 18 times with six lead changes. Auburn never trailed after forging into a 16-15 lead, but never led my more than two points.
- In the third set, two aces from Michelle Shaffer and four kills by Julia Sangiacomo keyed a 10-3 run that built a 14-6 lead. Auburn battled back within five, but the Broncos were able to hang on with Sophia Tulino finishing it off with a kill.
- The Broncos were in control for most of the fourth set. The Tigers pulled within 20-19, but the Santa Clara scored five of the final six points with Shaffer providing three kills, including the clincher.
- Nive Tuileta had career highs in assists (53) and digs (12).
- Kat Georgiadis (24) was two shy of her career high in digs, set vs. Portland State (Aug. 28).
- Sangiacomo's 18 digs matched her career high (vs. Saint Mary's, Oct. 24, 2019).
QUOTABLE
I'm so proud of how the team battled today. With it being our third straight match of the weekend and being down 0-2 we could have just let it go and we didn't. We learned a lot about our resilience and competitive team spirit this match. But certainly credit goes to Auburn for playing great defense and making us take multiple swings to earn points. I am grateful we had the opportunity to compete in this match to work on our end of set play and our first fifth set of the season. We will get back to work next week and look forward to our next competitions at Boise State.
- Head coach Erin Lindsey
NEXT UP
Santa Clara will play the tournament host Broncos on Thursday and Oregon State on Friday in the Boise State Classic.
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