LOS GATOS, Calif. — Santa Clara beach volleyball and Portland battled through windy conditions as part of the Broncos' season-opening match Thursday afternoon at Los Gatos High School. No. 20 Santa Clara swept the Pilots 5-0 and won 10 of the 11 sets to begin the 2016 campaign.
Although the forecast called for rain, wind played the biggest factor in the dual as the Broncos (1-0) defeated the Pilots (0-4).
"Overall, it was a great first contest. The competition allowed us to identify more specific areas for improvement within each team," Santa Clara head coach Aaron Mansfield said. "The wind was a factor all day — we knew it wasn't going to be perfect — but our girls did a nice job being mindful of their contacts to give themselves the best opportunity to win each point."
With Santa Clara up 3-0 and the match already in hand, the Broncos got strong performances out of their top-seeded teams to finish the afternoon. Santa Clara's top pairing of Kirsten Mead and Sabrina Clayton and its second pairing of Danielle Rottman and Nikki Hess each faced tough, scrappy opposition in the Pilots and came away with sweeps.
"Kirsten was all over the court defensively and had a very efficient offensive match en route to their win," Mansfield said. "Sabrina just came back from a minor injury and moved the ball around enough offensively to keep Portland guessing.
"Dani had a very steady sideout performance and was able to move the ball around throughout the match. Nikki set the ball very consistently and made it tough on Portland to sideout with her presence at the net."
Santa Clara's No. 3 team, Katrina Inch and Sarah Vaccaro, cruised to victory with a pair of 21-11 set wins. Inch and Vaccaro won 11 duals as a pair last season, the most for single Bronco team.
"Katrina had a steady sideout game and some key blocks up at the net, and Sarah's consistent setting and overall control of the match propelled this team to a dominating performance," Mansfield said.
In the first set of matches, Jensen Cunningham and Lacey Maas used their length to cover the court defensively in a 2-0 victory. Hailey Lindberg and Mary Shepherd dropped the first set of their dual and used improved ball control to take the next two sets.
"Jensen did a really nice job of reading the attackers from Portland on defense and was able to convert a lot of those defensive opportunities into points," Mansfield said. "Lacey did a nice job setting Jensen throughout the match and dealing with the elements.
"Hailey made some key plays at the net throughout the match and Mary continued to create long rallies through her defense and win many key points."
NEXT UP
The Broncos face San Francisco and Cal Saturday at the Sacramento Softball Complex.
RESULTS
Position 1: Kirsten Mead/Sabrina Clayton (SCU) def. Morgan Robinson/Hannah Troutman (POR) 21-12, 21-19
Position 2: Danielle Rottman/Nikki Hess (SCU) def. Makayla Lindburg/Maddy Mandon (POR) 21-16, 21-16
Position 3: Sarah Vaccaro/Katrina Inch (SCU) def. Monica Gadja/Sarah Savoca (POR) 21-11, 21-11
Position 4: Jensen Cunningham/Lacey Maas (SCU) def. Katie Barker/DJ Milovic (POR) 21-17, 22-20
Position 5: Mary Shepherd/Hailey Lindberg (SCU) def. Katie Sullivan/Brittney Markwith (POR) 17-21, 21-18, 15-12
Position 6 (Exhibition): Katie Barker/DJ Milovic (POR) def. Madison Dutra/Tatiana San Juan (SCU) 11-21, 21-17, 15-11
Order of Finish: 4, 5, 3, 1, 2
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