SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Playing a ranked opponent for the second-straight match, Santa Clara volleyball fell to No. 10 BYU 25-15, 15-25, 26-24, 25-12 in Leavey Center on Saturday afternoon for its senior day match. The loss snapped a five-match home winning streak for the Broncos against the Cougars, and marks just the second time BYU has won in Leavey since the Cougars joined the West Coast Conference in 2011.

Santa Clara (15-14, 6-11) dominated the second set and played BYU (26-3, 15-2) even in the third, but couldn't sustain the level of play in the deciding fourth stanza.

The Broncos carried momentum from their excellent second game into the start of the third and built a 5-1 lead, capped by back-to-back kills from Jensen Cunningham. The Cougars tied the score at 5-5 and from that point forward, neither team would lead by more than two points.

There were 11 ties in the third frame with the final one coming at 24-all. Lacy Haddock and Whitney Young Howard converted back-to-back kills to finish off the game in favor of the Cougars.

After the back-and-forth third game, BYU took control in the fourth, only trailing once. With the score 4-3, the Cougars rattled off 12 of the next 15 points to take a commanding 16-6 lead and all but put the match away.

The Cougars hit .250 as a team and McKenna Miller had a match-high 16 kills. Amy Boswell picked up 13 kills and Lyndie Haddock had 40 assists. Mary Lake had 26 digs to lead both teams.

The Broncos hit .172 as a team and double double-digit kills from Nikki Hess (13), Hailey Lindberg (career-high 13), and Cunningham (10). Kirsten Mead led all players with 43 assists. Taylor Laugero added a team-high 18 digs.

After dominant first game by BYU and a quick 3-0 lead in the second for the Cougars, Santa Clara evened the game and built an 11-9 lead. After three-straight points from BYU, the Broncos came back to close out the set on a 14-3 run.

Santa Clara honored its five seniors prior to the contest: Madison Dutra, Katrina Inch, Mary Shepherd, Sabrina Clayton and Hess. They close out the 2016 regular season with a home tilt against Saint Mary's Tuesday at 7 p.m.

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