Playing its first of three matches in 24 hours to start the season, Santa Clara fell 3-0 to Cal State Northridge.  The Broncos are 0-1 and CSU Northridge starts the season 1-0.  Match scores were 23-25, 22-25 and 24-26.

"We didn't serve well, we didn't block well.  We need some energy out there tomorrow. That will help us," said Bronco head coach Jon Wallace.  "We started three freshmen and two sophomores and at times it showed. We had some good play and against a team who returned all their starters, we didn't play smooth enough throughout."

Santa Clara hit .271 with 44 kills (15 e, 44 att.).  They collected 32 digs, eight team blocks,  and 35 assists.  They scored four aces.

The Broncos were led by Megan Anders 13 kills, hitting .650 with five blocks.  Haley Cameron hit .778 with seven kills and three blocks.  Alyssa Anderson collected 22 assists and two digs.  Gigi Cresto had 13 assists, six digs and two aces.  Lacey Maas hit .857 with six kills, four digs and two blocks.  Taylor Milton had seven digs and six kills. 

Northridge hit .330 with 49 kills (14 e, 106 att.).  They collected 38 digs, 10 team blocks, 38 digs and 43 assists.  They scored four aces.

The Matadors were led by Natalie Allen, who scored 11 kills.  Stinson had 11 kills. Gedryn collected 36 assists, six digs and five block assists.

Northridge jumped out 10-4 in the first set and moved ahead 13-7 on a kill.  The Broncos scored three straight before CSUN notched a couple to go up 15-11.  SCU scored three of the next four to move within one, 16-15.  The Broncos took a 21-20 lead on a kill by Anders and a Cameron block.  Milton tied it 22-22 after an error by the Broncos.  Northridge scored three of the next four points to take the game, 25-22. 

CSU N zoomed ahead 5-2 on a couple Bronco errors in the second set.  SCU then scored six straight to move up 8-5.  Lacy Maas scored a kill to push the Broncos ahead 16-10.  A kill by Nikki Hess and an error by the Matadors made it 19-13 Broncos.  CSU N then rallied to go on a 10-2 run.  An error by CSU N slowed the rally but Haina's kill secured the second set for the Matadors, 25-22.

"We got in a bad rotation when we were up 20-16 and we couldn't get out of it," said Wallace. "It's disappointing."

In the third set the teams were tied eight different times before CSU N jumped ahead 15-12.  The Broncos tied it up 19-19 on a team block by Milton and Anders.  A kill by CSU N gave the Matadors the lead again, 20-19.  A kill by Maas tied it up again at 20 each.  An kill by Cieana Stinson and an error by Katherine Douglas made it 22-20.  A kill by Anders and an error by Sydney Gedryn tied it up 22-22.   An error by Casey Hinger and an ace by Sabrina Clayton gave SCU a 24-23 lead.  Timeout Northridge.  A kill by Gedryn tied it up 24-24.  A team block by the Matadors gave Northridge a chance to close out the match, up 25-24.  Timeout Santa Clara.  An team block by Sam Kaul and Natalie Allen gave the Matadors a 3-0 match victory with a 26-24 set win.

"Game three went back and forth," said Wallace.  "I was hoping we could start again in the fourth set, but Northridge played steady and didn't panic when they were down.  They made the plays they needed to make at the end and looked a little comfortable than we did."