Highlights!

Despite Bronco Senior Day for Bridget O'Hara and Tanya Schmidt, Saint Mary's defeated Santa Clara 3-0 in the Leavey Center on Saturday. Set scores were 26-24, 25-22 and 25-20.  Santa Clara ends the 2011 season at 11-16 and 6-10. Saint Mary's ends its season at 16-12 and 10-6 in the WCC.  Schmidt wasn't at Senior Day because she was in San Francisco interviewing for the Rhodes Scholar.

Santa Clara hit .252 with 48 kills (17 e, 123 att.).  They collected 60 digs, 45 assists, three team blocks, one service ace and six service errors.  Saint Mary's hit .260 with 46 kills (13 e, 127 att.).  They collected 50 digs, 42 assists, eight team blocks, seven service aces and four service errors. 

Individually Santa Clara was led by Katherine Douglas who scored 14 kills (3e, 36 att.), hitting .306.  Dana Knudsen collected nine kills (2 e, 21 att.), hitting .333.  Alyssa Anderson had 33 assists and 14 digs.  Kaleigh Durket had six kills and 15 digs.  O'Hara had 16 digs in her final match.

Saint Mary's was led by Gabby Jolly's 14 kills, hitting .522 and Jordan Shaw's 10.  Missy White had 35 assists and 13 digs.  Sarah Reams had 15 digs.

Saint Mary's won the first set 26-24.  O'Hara's service ace and two straight Gael errors SCU up 6-2.  A kill by Anders to the back row made it 9-7.  Knudsen's kill to the back made it 12-8 Broncos.  Santa Clara went up 16-10.  SMC scored two straight before a kill by Anders off the block made it 17-12.  Two more Gaels errors and it was 19-13 Broncos. Timeout Gaels.  SMC scored five out of the huddle, including two aces.  Finally back-to-back kills by Anders and Knudsen stopped the bleeding and SCU went up 21-18.  SMC rallied for three to tie it up. Timeout Broncos.  A kill by Douglas cross court in the front row quieted the rally.  SMC scored two straight to go up when the Gaels were whistled for a lift to tie it 23-23.  Knudsen tied it up with a kill and then Jolly's tip in the front and a Bronco hitting error gave SMC the set.   Santa Clara hit .238 with 17 kills (7 e, 42 att.).  Saint Mary's hit .256 with 14 kills (4 e, 39 att.). Knudsen led the Broncos with four kills.

Saint Mary's won the second set 25-22.  The teams tied it up twice in the early going when Douglas crushed it cross court, but SMC answered with two kills before Douglas hit the same play for a kill to tie it up 4-4.  Knudsen's short kill followed an error by SMC.  Another Knudsen kill off the block and one by Durket, 8-5 Broncos.   Saint Mary's scored six straight including an ace, 11-8 SMC.  Timeout Broncos.  Kayla Lommori's kill in the back row stopped the rally before SMC scored five more to take a 16-10 lead.   Durket's kill off the block stopped the rally but Jolly couldn't be stopped off the Bronco block.  An ace by Lauren Corp and a kill by Jordan Shaw and the Broncos were down 19-11. Timeout Broncos.   Douglas scored five of the next six points on crafty kills to different parts of the court, 20-16 SMC.  Two SMC kills made it 22-16.  Douglas collected her 10^th kill of the match to sideout and SMC was called in the net, 23-18 SMC.  A kill by Anders off her head, sideout Broncos.  After two SMC errors, the Gaels whistled for time up 24-22.  Saint Mary's kill cross court proved to be the set winner.    Santa Clara hit .324 with 17 kills (5 e, 37 att.).  Saint Mary's hit .239 with 16 kills (5 e, 46 att.).

Saint Mary's won the third set 25-20.  The two tied it up six times early.   Jolly gave SMC a two-point lead on a kill, 8-6.  Knudsen's kill gave SCU a sideout. Jolly's 11^th kill made it 10-7 SMC.  SCU scored twice, including a kill on the slide by Knudsen. After an SMC kill, Anders knocked the ball down to pull within one, 12-11 SMC.  After three Saint Mary's points, Santa Clara whistled for time.  A kill by Anders and two of the next three points Durket kills made it 16-14 SMC.   The Gaels scored three straight including a kill off the Bronco block.  Knudsen's kill off the block and an error by White made it 19-16 SMC.  White's dump and then an ace put SMC up 21-16.  Timeout Broncos.   Santa Clara scored two but the Gaels rallied for three straight.  A net call and a hitting error gave SCU two more before a kill by Shaw gave SMC the set and the match 25-20.  Santa Clara hit .205 with 14 kills (5 e, 44 att.).  Saint Mary's hit .286 with 16 kills (4 e, 42 att.).