Bronco head coach Jon Wallace liked the way his team rebounded on Saturday, saying the team didn't understand how hard it is to win and how to finish points and sets on Friday night vs. CSU Northridge (3-0 loss). "I thought we did a lot better today," said Wallace. "We finished points out. We were able to tweek out some games and two wins today because we learned quickly."
The Broncos defeated Fresno State first 3-2 with game scores of 30-32, 25-22, 25-19, 20-25 and 15-10. SCU defeated Rice 3-1 with game scores of 25-12, 19-25, 25-17 and 26-24.
"This was a very tough weekend for us. Very tough – nothing was easy," said Wallace. "We started three freshmen and two sophomores and I am really happy how they played. It is a great learning process for all of us. We really had to really battle to win each game and each match. But luckily we stayed focused and kept going. This was a good start for this team that features nine returners and nine newcomers."
Against Fresno State, team-wise, the Bulldogs held edges in kills (72-68), hitting (.266-.228), assists (69-60) and blocks (15-9), while the Broncos sported a 15-3 service ace advantage.
Santa Clara's stat leaders included Megan Anders (16 kills, 6 blocks), Sabrina Clayton (.407, 21 points, 7 aces), GiGi Cresto (30 assists) and Danielle Rottman (19 digs).
Korrin Wild and Zana Bowens again led the FSU offense with their 21 and 20 kills, hitting .278 and .375 hitting marks, respectively.
Santa Clara hit .277 vs. Rice with 57 kills (19 e, 137 att.). The Broncos collected 60 digs, 52 assists, 10 team blocks, nine service aces and eight service errors. Rice hit .186 with 50 kills (24 e, 140 att.). The Owls collected 54 digs, 46 assists, no service aces, 12.0 team blocks and four service errors.
Sabrina Clayton hit .632 with 12 kills on 19 attempts and zero errors. Nikki Hess scored a team-high 14 kills and nine digs. Megan Anders hit .320 with 11 kills and five block assists. Alyssa Anderson scored 25 digs and nine digs. Danielle Rottman collected 20 digs and two aces. GiGi Cresto had 21 assists and eight digs running the 6-2 with Anderson.
Overall Wallace was very pleased with how the team played all weekend. "Megan played really well. Taylor Milton was also very good - she has been great all throughout the preseason. Sabrina Clayton put up some really good numbers too."
