SANTA CLARA, Calif. — A sweep Saturday didn't tell the whole story, as the West Coast Conference match between visiting Saint Mary's and the Santa Clara University volleyball team was much closer than what the Gaels' 3-0 (27-25, 25-22, 25-19) victory at Leavey Center would spell.
The Broncos (8-14, 4-6 WCC) and Gaels (7-11, 4-6 WCC) played nearly identical matches on Saturday. They had the exact same amount of kills (43), exact same amount of assists (39), exact same amount of blocks (5), were within two service aces of each other and were within five digs of each other.
What made the difference was Saint Mary's ability to close. In each of the three sets played, the Gaels closed hard to earn the set victory each time.
In the first set, Santa Clara got big kills from Julia Sangiacomo to tie it at 24-24 and 25-25. But SMC shut the door by scoring three of the last four points, all on kills, with two coming from the arm of Genevieve Bane to win 27-25. In the second set, Saint Mary's trailed 22-21, but it got the side out with a kill to tie it at 22-22. Then Kate Blackwell subbed in and delivered three consecutive aces to clinch the set at 25-22. Saint Mary's never trailed in the third set, but as Sangiacomo got warmed up again with back-to-back kills, SMC again shut the door with three of the last four points – all on kills and all from different players.
Sangiacomo led all players with 14 kills. She logged her fourth double-double of the season with 11 digs while also adding four blocks and two aces. Nive Tuileta narrowly missed a double-double, tying for the match high with 32 aces and turning in eight digs to go with two aces. Kat Georgiadis had a match-high 20 digs and chipped in six assists and an ace. Freshman middle blocker Lia Okammor hit .571 with eight kills and no errors while also putting up five blocks.
Ella Sandt led Saint Mary's with a double-double of 32 assists and 16 digs. Bane spearheaded the Gaels' offense with 12 kills and a .324 hitting percentage. SMC outhit the Broncos Saturday, .303 to .221, with nine fewer attack errors and no blocking errors to SCU's four.
The Broncos next travel to Southern California to face Pepperdine on Thursday and LMU on Saturday. Fans can find all live coverage links on the Broncos' schedule page.
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