SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Pepperdine University rallied from behind, scoring six-straight points to close out set three, claiming the momentum and eventually the match with Santa Clara University, beating the Broncos 3-1 Saturday at the Leavey Center.
Santa Clara (9-7; 0-2 WCC) was in position to take the third
set, leading 23-19 after a kill by Lexi
Williamson before Pepperdine countered with a 6-0 run and would
cruise from there, easily winning the fourth set 25-12.
Set scores went (25-13, 20-25, 25-23 and 25-12). Pepperdine junior
Kim Hill led all players with 15 kills and freshman teammate Emily
Cook added 14. Santa Clara's Tanya
Schmidt hit .423 and had 13 kills to pace the Broncos.
Pepperdine (10-5; 2-0 WCC) has opened the West Coast Conference
season with two wins on the road. The Waves beat the University of
San Francisco in three sets Thursday night.
The Waves and Broncos – who have combined for 33 NCAA
Tournament appearances - are both looking to get back into the
tournament after missing the postseason a year ago.
After a lopsided first set won by Pepperdine, Santa Clara responded by taking an early lead in set two behind the play of Schmidt, Kaleigh Durket and Dana Knudsen. The trio combined for 16 kills in set two, a game the Broncos led throughout, winning 25-20.
SCU carried that momentum into set three, coming out of the
locker room and establishing an 8-1 lead scoring four straight off
the serve of Kayla
Lommori. With Santa Clara leading 20-16, a tip by Schmidt put
the Broncos up by five but Pepperdine rallied to tie it at 23 on a
dump shot by setter Kellie Woolever and added two more to take the
set.
The outcome of the fourth game was never in question. The Waves
went up by scores of 9-2, 17-6 and 21-9.
The Broncos will try and rebound next week when they play the
University of Portland Thursday then Gonzaga University Saturday;
both of those games will be on the road.
Tanya Schmidt pictured (photo by Mike Rasay)
