Santa Clara finishes its spring season of competition on Sat., May 7 when it hosts Cal Poly at 10 am in the Leavey Center. The match is free and open to the public. Prior to hosting Cal Poly, the Santa Clara volleyball team will help host the third annual Walk 4 Pancreatic Cancer Walk on the Mission Campus. Registration for the walk begins at 7:30 am and walk-ups are welcome and encouraged! The walk begins at the Leavey Center at 8:30 am. The volleyball team has raised over $55,000 in the last three years for cancer research and support.
For more information on the walk please click here. In addition to the volleyball team, athletic department staff, men's basketball, women's golf and women's basketball will also work the walk or participate.
Bronco head volleyball coach Jon Wallace said the Walk 4 Pancreatic Cancer is a nice way to bring attention to the disease and remember those who might have passed away due to it. "Walking through the gorgeous campus, smelling the roses and reflecting will be a good two hour retreat," Wallace said. "The walk is for reflection and a great experience."
Wallace said this weekend is about putting it all together against Cal Poly – it's about winning. "We want to play well together this weekend. It's important for us to set the tone as we head to the summer. We need to continue to be consistent and get better with every set," added Wallace.
Wallace feels good about where the team is and said the spring has been a lot longer this year because of the dedication both the players and staff have shown to improving. "Our practices have been longer and the improvement has been much greater," continued Wallace. "The maturity of the group has been promising. We are in a good spot right now and the conditioning of the group has paid off since they have been working in that area since early January. Working for the second year with Ron Forbes in the weight room has helped us. They feel good about themselves and that shows on the court. Ron has given us the second year of continuity and the consistency is great."
Last weekend at USF Santa Clara beat UC Davis twice; lost game one by two points to San Francisco State, Cal and San Jose State, winning the second game vs. all three teams. "I was really impressed with how we competed last weekend. We battled back against Cal in the first game and came back to win the second game. I like the way we battled on a really long day with one hour breaks after each match so we had to cool down and warm up a number of times," Wallace. "We showed strong improvement from the week before when we beat Stanford. It's encouraging to see the continued improvement particularly on the defensive end and with our particular skills. And we are also working on some of our situational plays. The team is handling those with a lot more confidence."
Wallace said the most improved aspect this spring is their defensive form and the understanding of their responsibilities on the court. And also getting accustomed to playing together. "Last year we threw a lot of young kids on the court due to injuries and we weren't all together all the time and I feel like finally now we have six women moving together and playing together. And that's a big part of it."
Wallace was impressed with 6'5 middle Megan Anders block. "Her block was really good for us last weekend at USF."
Kaleigh Durket, Ali Rambis and Bridget O'Hara all had good weekends for the Broncos. "Ali made some good plays for us," said Wallace. "Alexandra Palmer set well for us and won a couple matches with her defense as well."
