In its second match of the day, Santa Clara fell 3-1 to CSU Northridge. Set scores were 25-22, 25-22, 14-25 and 25-23. Santa Clara is 5-3 and CSU Northridge is 3-5. Santa Clara hosts CSU Bakersfield Sat., Sept. 11 at 11 am to close out play in the Santa Clara Invitational.
Santa Clara hit .260 with 56 kills, 65 digs, 55 assists and three service aces and four service errors. CSU Northridge hit .239 with 61 kills, 60 digs, 51 assists and six service aces and 10 service errors. The Broncos collected three team blocks and CSU Northridge had five team blocks.
Santa Clara was led by the career-high 21 kills of Kayla Lommori. Lommori hit .308 and collected a team-high 16 digs as well. Dana Knudsen knocked down 13 kills, hitting .375. Emily Burke had 53 assists and 15 digs. Tanya Schmidt had eight kills, hitting .389.
In the first set SCU raced to a 3-1 score on a team block by Kaleigh Durket and Schmidt; and then a kill by Schmidt. The teams tied it up four times when three Bronco hitting errors gave CSUN a 10-7 lead. Bronco head coach Jon Wallace had seen enough and called timeout. After the timeout CSUN went up 12-8 on two straight kills. A Lommori kill off the block quieted the Matador rally and after CSUN was called in the net, SCU was down two, 12-10 CSUN. A hustle play by CSUN at the net gave the Matadors a 15-10 lead. A long rally resulted in a CSUN point and another Bronco timeout, down 16-11. CSUN took an 18-12 lead on two straight kills to the back row. The teams traded monster kills to put CSUN up 21-17. CSNU pushed its lead to 23-17 on two more points. Again, Lommori silenced the rally with a kill, 23-18 CSUN. Trading kills, SCU laced two together by Durket and Schmidt and a Matador error made it 24-21 CSUN. The Matadors called timeout. After the halt and a long rally, a Durket kill made it 24-22 CSUN. A kill to the back court by the Matadors gave them set one, 25-22. SCU hit .136 with 11 kills. Durket and Lommori each had four kills. CSUN hit .229 with 18 kills and were led by Lynda Morales seven kills, hitting .500.
The two teams tied it up three times. A hitting error by CSNY and back-to-back kills by Knudsen and Burke gave the Broncos an 8-5 lead. Two CSUN errors made it 10-6 SCU and the Matadors called timeout. Trading points, a team block by Burke and Schmidt gave SCU a 12-7 lead. Two CSUN hitting errors and it was 14-8 SCU. Schmidt bounced up for a quick kill to the back row, 15-9 Broncos. CSUN scored twice to pull within two, 17-15 Broncos; and Wallace called timeout. A communication error by the Matadors gave SCU an 18-15 lead. Three straight CSUN kills and it was quickly tied 18 each. Wallace called timeout after a Bronco hitting error gave CSUN the lead, 19-18. A Lommori kill stopped the Bronco bleeding with CSUN up 22-20. The teams traded points twice with CSUN up 24-22. Knudsen got tangled the net and CSUN won set two, 25-22. SCU hit .174 with 15 kills in the set. Lommori had six kills. CSUN hit .267 with kills.
In set three SCU once again took a 2-1 lead on a kill by Schmidt. CSUN tied it up 3-3 with an ace and then served it into the net to give SCU a 4-3 lead. Two straight Ali Rambis aces and then a Durket kill made it 7-3 SCU. Trading points, SCU took a 9-4 lead on a CSUN error when the Matadors whistled for time to regroup. Coming out of the timeout, four Knudsen kills gave SCU a 13-6 lead. Two CSUN errors put SCU up 15-6 and once again the Matadors whistled for timeout. CSUN scored two points but Lommori crushed the ball twice to the opposite side to make it 18-9 SCU. Knudsen's fifth kill of the set made it 20-10 SCU. A kill on a tip by Lexi Williamson and Knudsen's kill off the block made it 23-13. Two kills by Lommori and SCU had set three in the bag, 25-14. SCU hit .483 in the set, with 17 kills and just three errors. Knudsen had six kills and Lommori collected five. CSUN hit .167 with nine kills.
In set four Schmidt's kill put SCU up 1-0. The two teams battled to six ties before CSUN took an 8-6 lead on a kill and an ace. Trading points once again, Lommori's 17th kill of the match and then a Burke ace gave SCU a 10-9 lead. Tying it up three more times, CSUN took a 15-13 lead on two Bronco errors. The Broncos whistled for a timeout. Three straight Matador aces gave CSUN an 18-13 advantage and Wallace called timeout once again. Working to regroup, the Broncos forced two Matador errors and scratched within three, 18-15 CSUN. Trading serves five times, CSUN took a 22-20 lead. The Matadors called time after two straight Bronco points. Trading serves, CSUN was up 23-21 when Durket and Knudsen collected a team block to make it 23-22. After a CSUN timeout, the Matadors knocked down a kill to make it 24-22. Trading points, CSUN collected the winning kill, winning the game and set 25-23. SCU hit w.370 with 13 kills. CSUN hit .275 with 16 kills.
