SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Michelle Shaffer had 15 kills on a .382 hitting percentage and Julia Sangiacomo posted a double-double (13 kills/13 digs) to guide Santa Clara volleyball to a 17-25, 25-14, 25-21, 25-20 victory over Pacific in the season finale.
The Broncos, who capped the year by winning four of their final five, outhit the Tigers .242 to .068. and dominated the net with a 12.0 to 7.0 advantage in total blocks.
Santa Clara (12-15, 8-9) took control of the match in the middle two sets when it combined to hit .453 and suffer just three attack errors.
Shaffer, a senior playing in her final match, had five kills each in both the second and third sets.
Alexa Edwards had 15 kills and Lucy Carpenter nine for the Tigers (13-16, 10-8) who had won four of their previous five matches to climb into fourth place in the West Coast Conference standings, but couldn't overcome 36 attack errors.
A 9-0 run that turned a four-point deficit into a 14-9 lead was the decisive blow in the second set. Six of Pacific's 11 errors in the set occurred in that flurry.
After hitting .429 in the second, the Broncos were a more impressive .480 in the third set. They forged into the lead on a 10-2 run that pushed them ahead 16-11. The Tigers were unable to get closer than three points the remainder of the set.
Santa Clara had to rally to close out the match.
Pacific, which didn't hit higher than .150 in any set, led by as many as four early in the fourth and was still clinging to a 19-17 advantage.
Sangiacomo followed with a kill and then the Tigers had three straight attack errors.
Shaffer had the match-ending kill after three more Pacific attack errors.
Alex Anthony, another Santa Clara senior, had a 8.0 total blocks, Sangiacomo 6.0 and Anna Stucchi 5.0.
Kat Georgiadis had 13 digs and Sophia Tulino had five kills and eight digs for Santa Clara, which ended the year sixth in the league standings, one half-game back of Saint Mary's.
NOTES
- The Broncos finished the season with eight wins in their final 12 matches.
- Michelle Shaffer (15) record 15 or more kills for the ninth match this season.
- Julia Sangiacomo (13 kills/13 digs) recorded her seventh double-double of the year.
- Pacific leads the all-time series with Santa Clara by a 29-15 margin. The Broncos swept the season series from the Tigers after defeating them 3-1 on Oct. 21.
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