Sept. 13, 2007
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The No. 22 Santa Clara volleyball team defeated UC Davis, 3-1 (30-25, 30-24, 31-33, 30-24) Thursday night in their 2007 home opener at the Leavey Center. With the win, the Broncos improved to 7-3 on the season, while the Aggies dropped to 3-7 overall.
Lindsy Evans led the match with a career-high 21 kills, while Nina Sevastopoulos and Brittany Lowe chipped in with 19 and 13 kills, respectively. Senior setter Crystal Matich dished out 60 assists and had two service aces, while senior libero Caroline Walters collected a match-high 21 digs.
Kelly Patterson and Kayla Varney led the offense for UC Davis in the beginning of game one, opening with a score 5-3. Yet, the Broncos rallied back on solid plays from Lowe, Alex Scoffone and Sevastopoulos to tie the score, 10-10. On service from Lauryn Dowd, Santa Clara tied the score again, 12-12, and went on a 7-1 run to take a three-point lead over Davis. The Broncos continued to push ahead on points from Evans, Dowd and Sevastopoulos to take a commanding 26-19 lead. The Aggies did not give up and recorded six more points, but it wasn't enough as Scoffone slammed the ball down to end the first game, 30-25, for the Broncos.
The Broncos took early control of the second game, jumping to a 4-1 lead. However, the Aggies fought back to knot the score, 7-7, on strong serving efforts from Carson Lowden. A block from Erin Turner gave UC Davis a one point advantage, but a Matich kill tied the score once again, 8-8. The teams then battled point for point until SCU was able to put together a short three-point run to take a two-point lead on a kill from Evans and Aggie errors. Each team tied the score one more time before a service ace from Lowe gave Santa Clara the edge, 23-20. Three consecutive Bronco kills from Evans, Scoffone and Lowe gave SCU a six-point lead, 27-21, and an Aggie service error ended game two, 30-24.
UC Davis came back from the break energized and ready to give Santa Clara a hard time pulling off a three game sweep. The Aggies grabbed a 6-4 lead on kills from Varney and Ibekwe, but the Broncos knotted the score, 9-9, on a service ace from Matich. Once again, the two teams went head-to-head and tied the score six times before UC Davis advanced to game-point, 29-27, on a kill from Turner. But, Santa Clara still forged ahead tying the score at 30-30 on a point from Sevastopoulos. However, a kill from Diana Gustafson ended the third game for the Aggies, 33-31.
Leading 2-1, the Broncos opened the fourth game on back-to-back kills from Evans, 2-0. UC Davis kept the score tight but Santa Clara continued to hold the edge, on key plays from Evans and Dowd. A kill from Lowe put the Broncos up by three, 10-7, and forced the Aggies to take a timeout. Returning from a later timeout called by Santa Clara, a Matich attack was sent back by UC Davis to the hands of Evans, who then hit the ball with incredible force to bring the Broncos to a 16-12 lead. SCU tried to push ahead, although UC Davis continued to tie the score. Yet, a service ace from Evans put the score at 21-18 for Santa Clara. Sevastopoulos posted then three straight kills to give the Broncos a five point advantage, 24-19, and Matich set up a pair of kills for Dowd to help Santa Clara to an eight-point edge, which was the largest lead of the match, 28-20. As she opened game four, a kill from Evans brought the match to a close, 30-24.
For UC Davis, Ibekwe registered a team-best 15 kills, while Turner added 13 kills on the night and lead the match with six total blocks.
The Broncos return to action on Friday, Sept. 14 in the first day of the 2007 SCU Volleyball Invitational. Santa Clara will face No. 11 California at 7 p.m., at the Leavey Center. Prior to the Broncos match, Notre Dame and UC Santa Barbara will go head to head at 4:30 p.m.
