SANTA CLARA, Calif. – A career night from Mia Wesley and just enough defense helped Portland rally from two sets down to post a 23-25, 26-28, 25-16, 25-22, 16-14 victory over Santa Clara volleyball on Monday in the first of back-to-back matches.

Wesley had a career-high 30 kills, tied for most in a West Coast Conference match this season, and 15 digs, Liz Reich posted 11 kills and Carey Williams had 28 digs for the Pilots (2-9, 2-9) who had a .222 attack percentage in Leavey Center.

Julia Sangiacomo had a double-double with a career-high 27 kills and 17 digs, Sophia Tulino registered a career-best 20 kills and Michelle Shaffer nearly had a triple-double with 32 assists, 17 digs and nine kills, but it was not enough for the Broncos (1-4, 1-4).

Sangiacomo's 27 kills were the most by a Bronco in a single match in nearly a decade. Megan Anders registered 28 in a five-set victory at San Francisco on Nov. 1, 2012.

Santa Clara, which returned to the court after an 11-day break from team activities due to COVID-19 protocol, committed a season-high 18 service errors. The Broncos posted a .421 attack percentage in the opening set and only a combined .167 over the final four sets.

The final set was tied eight times, including at 12-all, before Wesley's 30th kill and a combined block by Chelsey Harmon and Liz Reich gave the Pilots a pair of set points. The Broncos won the next two points to pull even, and the Pilots secured the win by taking the next two rallies, including a block by Harmon and Jiana Lawson for the match-clinching point.

Santa Clara, which posted 11.0 total team blocks, overturned early deficits to win the opening two sets.

The Broncos trailed 12-7 in set one before rallying to tie the score at 15-all, then scored four of the last five points to close it out with Tulino tallying a pair of kills.

Santa Clara trailed 13-9 in the second set and didn't pull ahead until an attack error gave it a 25-24 advantage, but after the Pilots staved off two set points, they had a pair of errors to give the Broncos a 2-0 match lead.

Portland led from start to finish in the third set, but rallied in the fourth set behind five kills from Reich and four by Wesley to even the match.

Liliana Light had a double-double for Santa Clara with 24 assists and 14 digs.

Kelllie Hughes had 31 assists and 12 digs, and Grace Zilbert had 24 digs for the Pilots.

HIGHLIGHTS | Check out the best action from Monday's matchup with Portland!#StampedeTogether #SCUBroncos pic.twitter.com/uqQWAI0ys1

— Santa Clara Volleyball (@scuvolleyball) March 9, 2021

NOTES
• Santa Clara leads the all-time series 56-14 (first meeting 1979). The Broncos won both meetings in 2019 and the teams split the previous eight meetings. They split the two-match season series in 2016 and 2017. Portland swept the season series in 2018 and Santa Clara swept the season series in 2019.
• The match produced two of the top four kills outputs in the WCC this season. Mia Wesley had 30 to equal Kari Geissberger of LMU (vs. Saint Mary's on Jan. 27) and Julia Sangiacomo's 27 matched Rachel Ahrens of Pepperdine (vs. Gonzaga, March 6).

��️ Hear from @Coach_ELindsey on today's match against Portland.

Postmatch interview presented by @ROATweets.#StampedeTogether #SCUBroncos pic.twitter.com/jlutOGsJcw

— Santa Clara Volleyball (@scuvolleyball) March 9, 2021

NEXT UP

The Broncos will play Portland on Tuesday in Leavey Center. First serve is set for 2 p.m. Due to current guidelines in Santa Clara County, spectators are not permitted inside Leavey Center. In addition, only essential personnel is allowed on campus. The general public is allowed only to 'pass through' campus, such as on a walk, but no lingering, gathering, lounging, etc. is permitted.

HOW TO WATCH ON WCC NETWORK

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).

Ben Ross is the play-by-play announcer for Tuesday's broadcast.