AUSTIN, Texas — Santa Clara volleyball recorded its fifth sweep in eight matches this season with a 25-16, 25-16, 25-19 victory over Iona Friday morning at Gregory Gym. The Broncos had a season-best 14 service aces as part of the first match in the Texas Classic. In the nightcap, the Broncos fell 21-25, 12-25, 23-25 against No. 4 Texas to close out the weekend at 2-1.
VS. IONA
Santa Clara hit .500 in the opening set and .259 for the match. Nikki Hess and Jensen Cunningham tied for a team-high 10 kills; Hess hit .450 (10 K – 1 E – 20 TA) and Cunningham hit .538 (10 K – 3 E – 11 TA). Hess also had a Bronco-best 10 digs to record her fifth double-double of the season. Kirsten Mead led the team with 20 assists and Sabrina Clayton tallied five aces.
The Broncos (6-2) got out to a fast start by winning the first five points of the match against the Gaels (2-7) with Mead on serve — the sophomore's early ace put Santa Clara ahead 2-0. After Iona's Amanda Gannon and Karly White combined for a block to make the score 15-11 Santa Clara, the Broncos pulled away by taking 10 of the final 15 points in the opening set.
Two attack errors and a bad set put the Broncos behind 3-0 in the second stanza, and Santa Clara rallied to go on an 8-1 run and take a four-point lead. Cunningham got the Broncos on the scoreboard with a kill and Clayton followed with three straight aces to give her team a lead they would not give back. Tatiana San Juan closed out the frame with an ace — one of Santa Clara's seven for the second set.
Santa Clara and Iona traded the lead four times and were tied eight times in the third set. The Broncos broke a 15-15 tie with a 4-0 run that included a block from Lacey Maas, an ace from Mary Shepherd and a kill from Hess. Later in the set, Hess closed out the match with one of her three final set kills.
MATCH NOTES: First serve was at 8:03 a.m. PDT … time of the match was 1:22.
VS. TEXAS
Hess posted a double-double for the sixth time in 2015 by leading Santa Clara with 13 kills and 10 digs. Clayton added 10 kills and Anna McCreadie hit .389 with eight kills. Texas' Chiaka Ogbogu led all players with 15 kills and setter Chloe Collins produced a match-high 41 assists. The Broncos (6-3) played in front of their largest crowd of the season as 2,328 were in attendance for their match against the Longhorns (6-1).
"The girls played in front of a great college volleyball atmosphere tonight and it was a good test for our team," head coach Jon Wallace said. "I thought we played well in sets one and three; Texas made big plays at the right time. I'm proud of our team, we improved this weekend and we're excited to get back in gym Monday and get better."
Trailing 9-5 in the first set, the Broncos won the next four points to even the score — Hess bookended the run with a kill and an ace. Later in the set, Santa Clara won three straight points on kills from Calkins, Hess and Clayton, which forced a Texas timeout with the Longhorns leading 23-21. Texas won the next two points to claim the first stanza.
After the Longhorns controlled the second set, the Broncos came out of the break and won the first three points of the third frame, including two aces in a row from Mead. Santa Clara built as large as a three-point lead, and held that advantage as late as 20-17. The Longhorns used a 5-0 run to go in front 22-20 and Santa Clara pulled within one of Texas three times over the next five points before the hosts took the third set and the match on a kill from Ogbogu.
"Dani, Mary and Kirsten did a great job over the weekend of playing at a high level," Wallace added. "Natasha Calkins also had a really good weekend. She continues to get better, and we're excited for her future."
Santa Clara returns to Northern California for three matches in the Sacramento State Invitational next weekend. The Broncos take the court against Kent State Friday, Sept. 18 and play a Saturday doubleheader with matches against Nevada and Sacramento State.
MATCH NOTES: First serve was at 5:34 p.m. PDT … time of the match was 1:33 ... attendance was 2,328.
