STOCKTON, Calif. — Santa Clara volleyball's first road match of the Spring 2021 season was a heartbreaker on Tuesday night. The Broncos won the first two sets before Pacific rallied to take the next three and win the contest 22-25, 28-30, 25-19, 25-20, 15-12 in Alex G. Spanos Center. 

Riley Patterson recorded a match-best 24 kills to go with 16 digs for the Tigers (2-5, 2-5 WCC) and Alexa Edwards added 23 kills, 16 digs and four aces. Pacific served up 11 aces and held the Broncos (0-3, 0-3 WCC) to two on its way to snapping a four-match losing streak. Gabby Leo registered a match-high 59 assists. 

Santa Clara won the block battle by a wide margin, posting 20 as a team while limiting the Tigers to five. Alex Anthony finished with a career-best 12 total blocks (11 assists, one solo) to lead the Bronco defense at the net. Julia Sangiacomo topped Santa Clara with 17 kills, Sophia Tulino added 15 on .308 hitting and Nani Spaar had 10. Gretchen Reinert led all players with 22 digs and Michelle Shaffer had a 36-assist, 11-dig double-double. 

After taking sets three and four to force a fifth, Pacific pulled in front 8-4 in the final set with a 5-0 run, including two straight aces from Edwards. The Broncos cut the lead down to two points at 14-12 before Edwards came through again, this time with a kill, to cap the comeback. 

Sangiacomo got the Bronco offense in rhythm early with seven first-set kills. She had four kills in a seven-point span to help the Broncos build a 20-15 lead and the team led by at least three points the rest of the way. 

Santa Clara fought off six set points in a back-and-forth second set. Pacific had its first three set points at 24-21, and the Broncos took advantage of two attacking misfires before Anthony and Shaffercombined for a block to tie it up at 24-all. Spaar and Lexi Poppinga combined for a block on each of the last two points as the Broncos took a two-set lead.

Pacific jumped in front 10-4 in the third and Santa Clara answered by winning seven of the next eight points to tie the set at 11-all. Pacific later led 20-18 and Edwards helped the team clinch the set by rattling off three kills in a 5-1 spurt; she posted eight kills for the set.

In the fourth, the Tigers won five straight points for a 16-11 lead, including three straight kills from Sedona Sherman. After Spaar's kill put the Broncos back on serve, the Tigers won the next four points to pull ahead 20-12 en route to forcing a fifth set.

QUOTABLE — HEAD COACH ERIN LINDSEY

"Those close, five-set matches always hurt more when you are on the losing side. I thought we did some really good things tonight especially early; our passing was solid and we were getting good touches on the block. Credit to Pacific for playing great floor defense and extending rallies. They really pushed us to find more offensively which we will continue to work for. I am really proud of how our young team is staying together and learning through competition. We obviously want to win and are disappointed we didn't tonight, but will come back tomorrow with determination."

NOTES

• Pacific leads the all-time series 29-12 (first meeting 1975)

NEXT UP

The Broncos host the Tigers Wednesday night in Leavey Center. First serve is set for 6:05 p.m.

Due to current COVID-19 guidelines in Santa Clara County, spectators are not permitted inside Leavey Center.

Santa Clara home matches and West Coast Conference matches are streamed live on WCC Network. All events are available at WCCSports.com/watch. Match-specific broadcast links will be posted on the schedule page and on Twitter (@SCUVolleyball).

Anthony Passarelli is the play-by-play announcer for Wednesday's match at Santa Clara.