Oct. 11, 2003
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The 14th-ranked Santa Clara University volleyball team opened up its 2003 home league season with a convincing 3-0 sweep of 18th-ranked San Diego in front of 723 fans Saturday night at the Leavey Center. With the win the Broncos move to 12-6 overall and 3-0 in leauge play while the Toreros fall to 13-4 overall and 2-1 in West Coast Conference action.
"I was very happy with the way we played tonight," said SCU head coach Jon Wallace. "Our tough schedule to this point has really prepared for what will be an emotionally and physically challenging league schedule.
"Our girls have really learned what it takes to battle the best teams in the country and their mental toughness tonight pulled them through. Every time USD would make a run to get back in the game, we seemed to answer back with one of our own late in the game that put it away for us. It is exciting to see the girls make the adjustments count in the right situations."
Those adjustments come easier when there are three solid seniors inBecky Potter, Kelli Sousa and Becky Biniek to lead the way. Potter led the Broncos with 17 kills while Sousa guided the offense with 45 assists, eight of which went to Biniek.
Defensively, it was at the net where the Broncos came up big as Biniek posted six block assists alongside Potter's five. As a team Santa Clara had 12 total blocks, 10 more than their counterparts, making up for the seven extra digs that San Diego accumulated over SCU.
Sophomore Alyssa Lantz also stepped up big for the Broncos, posting 10 kills to go along with her match-high 16 digs. Fellow sophomore Toni Muratore chipped in with 11 kills on the evening.
For the Toreros it was Devon Forester who carried the majority of the load on the night, notching 28 kills on 55 attempts with only eight errors for a .364 percentage. She also added a team-high 13 digs while setter Lindsey Sherburne posted a match-high 54 assists.
Santa Clara will continue its season-long three match homestand next weekend as they put their unblemished WCC record on the line against San Francisco and Saint Mary's on Friday and Saturday nights, respectively. Both matches are slated for 7 p.m. first serves.
