GREELEY, Colo. — The non-conference season came to a close Saturday for the Santa Clara University volleyball team, marked by another close battle on the road, as host Northern Colorado held off the Broncos, 3-1 (25-23, 20-25, 25-21, 27-25), at Bank of Colorado Arena.
"It was a really good battle," said Santa Clara head coach Erin Lindsey. "I told the team I was proud of our effort. I thought it was one of our more complete matches against a great team."
The Broncos (4-8) forced the host Bears (6-5) to win two sets by only the minimum two points and took set two from them, evening the match at 1-1 at the time. Julia Sangiacomo and Nive Tuileta were both named to the UNC Classic All-Tournament Team. Sangiacomo averaged 4.45 kills per set during the tournament, and Tuileta averaged 10.36 assists per set.
Santa Clara made a late push in the first set, but Northern Colorado was able to hold on for a slim, 25-23, victory. The Broncos led 6-2, then the Bears responded with an 8-2 run to go ahead, 10-8, and not trail again in the set. With Northern Colorado leading 22-18, the Broncos came charging back by scoring five of the next seven points to make it 24-23, but a service error ended the comeback.
Sangiacomo led Santa Clara with 18 kills. She narrowly missed a double-double with eight digs, and also added two service aces and two blocks. Layla Truitt had 16 kills while hitting .382. Tuileta guided the offense with 38 assists and added seven digs and four blocks. Lia Okammor had four kills and hit .375 while posting a team-high five blocks to go with two digs and an assist.
Northern Colorado had four players log double-digit kills, led by a match-high 19 from Kailey Jo Ince. Cece Huhn had 14, Rachel Hickman added 10 and so did Annette Baker. UNC setter Syd Cole tallied a match-high 54 assists.
The Broncos open West Coast Conference play with a lone game on Friday on the road at San Francisco. Fans can find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.
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UNC Classic All-Tournament Team
| Name | School |
| Maia Dvoracek | Cal Poly |
| Cece Huhn | Northern Colorado |
| Kailey Jo Ince | Northern Colorado |
| Julia Sangiacomo | Santa Clara |
| Grayson Schirpik | Tarleton State |
| *Tommi Stockham | Cal Poly |
| Nive Tuileta | Santa Clara |
* Tournament MVP
