Nov. 24, 2003

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This Week: Broncos Conclude Regular Season Tuesday Night
The Santa Clara University volleyball team will conclude its 2003 regular season campaign with a 7 p.m. match against sixth-ranked Stanford Tuesday evening in the Leavey Center. Following that match the Broncos will await word on their postseason fate as the NCAA Tournament selections will be announced live on ESPNews Sunday evening at 5 p.m.

Santa Clara vs. Stanford
The Broncos and Cardinal have met 17 previous times dating back to 1975. Stanford has won all 17 prior meetings including last year's 3-0 victory in Maples Pavilion. The last time these two teams met in the Leavey Center was on October 2, 2001 with the Cardinal coming away with a 3-1 victory.

Scouting the Cardinal
Stanford enters the match ranked sixth in the country by the AVCA and with a 21-6 overall record. They swept their previous two matches, defeating Oregon and Oregon State at home. Their last loss came on November 14, a 3-1 loss at No. 1 USC. All six of their losses this season have come to teams that were ranked in the top-10 at the time. Junior Ogonna Nnamani leads the team with her 5.29 kills per game average while her 2.31 digs per game mark ranks third on the team. Jennifer Harvey's 1.52 blocks per game average leads a squad that is averaging over three blocks per game.

Last Weekend: Broncos Split Final Two WCC Matches
The Santa Clara University women's volleyball team lost to No. 4 Pepperdine in heartbreaking fashion, falling by a 3-2 score on Friday evening. The Broncos bounced back the following evening for a 3-2 victory over No. 16 Loyola Marymount on Senior Night. With the win and loss the Broncos moved their overall record to 20-9 while their WCC mark went to 11-3. The win over LMU gave the Broncos second place outright in the conference for the third-straight season.

Wallace Gets Fourth 20-Win Season
Head Coach Jon Wallace picked up his fourth 20-win season with the Broncos' 3-2 win over 16th-ranked Loyola Marymount. In only his fifth season on the Mission Campus, Wallace's four seasons with at least 20 wins is two more than any other coach in Santa Clara volleyball history. Former coach Annie Feller is the only other coach to have won at least 20 matches in two different seasons, attaining the feat in 1993 and 1998, her first and last years at the helm respectively. During his time at SCU, Wallace has a winning percentage of .725 (111-42) while his WCC record is even more impressive, compiling a win percentage of .814 (57-13), the second best winning percentage of any coach in WCC history. He trails only his former boss, Nina Matthies of Pepperdine, whose .851 win percentage (223-39) has come in her 19 years of coaching in the WCC.

In the Rankings
SCU remained constant for the third-straight week in the AVCA/USA Today Top-25 Coaches' Poll with their No. 13 national ranking. Santa Clara entered the season with its highest ever preseason national ranking of No. 14. The Broncos moved up to a season-high ranking No. 12 one month ago following victories over Saint Mary's and San Francisco at home.

Potter Establishes New Program Record
With her 15th kill against Pepperdine on November 21, senior middle blocker Becky Potter broke the all-time kills mark at Santa Clara, surpassing the previous mark of 1,748 that was established Ynez Carrasco in 2000. Currently, Potter has 1,775 kills with one regular season match and the NCAA Tournament remaining. She also has 1,117 digs making her one of only six players in WCC history to record at least 1,600 kills and 1,000 digs in their career. Her .290 career hitting percentage ranks third in SCU history as does her 382 career total blocks.

Sousa Ranks Among WCC's Elite
Senior Kelli Sousa reached a setting plateau against Pepperdine on November 21 that only three others players in West Coast Conference history, as her 70 assists took her over the 5,000 assists mark for her career. She is only the second player in Santa Clara history to reach the milestone and currently ranks third in WCC history with her 5,091 career assists. She trails only Roz Pelayo of Santa Clara (5,732) and Tracy Homan of LMU (5,362). Becci Roehl of Pepperdine is the only other player in league history to have over 5,000 assists as she accumulated 5,020 in her four years with the Waves.

Luxton Posts 30 Digs in Win over LMU
Sohpomore Libero Kristen Luxton did something against No. 16 LMU that nobody in SCU volleyball has done in the last decade. Her 30 digs against the Lions not only established a new career-high, but set a program-best for the last decade. No Bronco has recorded more than 29 digs since Lia Young posted 33 digs on November 19, 1993 against San Diego. The 30 digs eclipses her previous career best of 25 digs that was set on November 14th at Saint Mary's when she registered 25 digs in the Broncos 3-2 win over the Gaels.

Tough Scheduling
Santa Clara has played one of the toughest schedules in the country in 2003, playing 16 of their 30 matches against team who were ranked in the top-25 at one point or another this season, including Tuesday's matchup with No. 6 Stanford. All nine of the Broncos' losses have come to teams who were ranked in the top-25 this season. The Broncos have four victories against ranked opponents, defeating then No. 10 Arizona, then No. 18 San Diego twice, and most recently, No. 16 Loyola Marymount.

Head Coach Jon Wallace
Wallace enters his fifth season at the helm of the Santa Clara program. In his first four years on the Mission Campus, Wallace has guided the Broncos to four-straight NCAA Tournament appearances and two season records that rank among the top three in school history. During his tenure the Broncos have had 20 all-WCC selections, six all-WCC academic selections, two AVCA All-Pacific Region players, one WCC Player of the Year, one WCC Defender of the Year, one WCC Freshman of the Year and one AVCA All-American. Wallace himself was named the WCC Coach of the Year in 2000 when he led the Broncos to the WCC title. With the Broncos' 3-2 victory over Sacramento State on September 30, 2003, Wallace became only the second coach in Bronco Volleyball history to reach the 100-win plateau, joining Mary Ellen Murchison. Wallace attains the feat in only his fifth year on the Mission Campus and has the all-time win mark for a coach set squarely in his sights as Murchison's mark of 162 wins was posted in 11 seasons. Thus far in his career Wallace has an overall record of 111-42 (.725 win percentage), while his record in league play is an even more impressive 57-13 (.814 win percentage).

Up Next: NCAA Selection Show
Santa Clara will find out its 2003 postseason fate on Sunday, November 30 when the NCAA Tournament Brackets are announced live on ESPNews at 5 p.m. Pacific time. The Broncos are in a position for their sixth-straight NCAA appearances, five of which have been under current head coach Jon Wallace.