SPOKANE, Wash. — Santa Clara volleyball rallied from a pair of one-set deficits and a trio of three-point deficits in the fifth set for a road victory over Gonzaga on Friday. The Broncos defeated the Bulldogs 19-25, 25-17, 20-25, 25-21, 15-12 in a West Coast Conference matchup at Charlotte Y. Martin Centre. 

Michelle Shaffer posted a 32 assist, 12-dig, 11-kill triple-double and hit .409 to spur the Broncos (3-4, 3-4 WCC) to a second-straight win and third win in four matches. Julia Sangiacomo led all players with 21 kills and Sophia Tulino added 17 for Santa Clara, which hit .247 on the day. 

Six different Broncos produced at least two blocks — Alex Anthony and Liliana Light led the way with five apiece — and they outblocked Gonzaga 11-6. Gretchen Reinert led Santa Clara with 15 digs. 

Chapin Gray led the Bulldogs (3-10, 3-10) with 15 kills and the team hit .231 for the match. Zoe Thiros (13 kills, 13 digs) and Sarah Penner (11 kills, match-high 17 digs) posted double-doubles while Katelyn Oppio added 13 kills on .360 hitting.

Gonzaga jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the fifth set and later was ahead 11-8 before the Santa Clara surge.

The Broncos won the next five points, sparked by two kills from Tulino and two aces from Light, and closed the contest on a 7-1 run. Shaffer's kill put the Broncos on match point at 14-12, then Nani Spaar and Anthony capped the victory with a block of Gray. Anthony locked down the net defense in crunch time, producing three blocks in the decisive set. The Broncos also had their best offensive set of the tilt, hitting .381 as group, including four kills from Tulino.

The Bulldogs won the first four points of the match behind a pair of kills from Thiros and never trailed in the opening set. Santa Clara pulled even at 10-all and 16-all before Gonzaga won nine of the last 12 points to claim the early lead. The Zags hit .375 in the first stanza and got three kills from four different players, including a team-best five from Penner.

In the second set, Santa Clara used a 5-0 run to pull in front 11-7 and led the rest of the way en route to evening the match at one set apiece. Sangiacomo had two kills and Reinert added an ace in that stretch. Tulino produced six kills for the set, including four in the last 14 points.

The Zags spread the offense around to hit an efficient .300 in the third set. Gonzaga had five players produce at least two kills and three players come through with three kills as it retook the match lead. The Bulldogs built a 6-3 advantage with a 4-0 run and led by at least two the rest of the way. Oppio registered their last three kills of the set.

Santa Clara responded early in a must-win fourth set as Sangiacomo posted back-to-back kills to spark a 5-0 run that resulted in a 6-4 edge. The Broncos led 16-13 after 11 straight side-outs, and used a 5-1 spree to create separation; Sangiacomo started off that stretch with a kill. The Bulldogs pulled within two points at 23-21 before the Broncos got a block from Anthony and Spaar, then won the set on a misfire from Thiros. 

NEXT UP

Santa Clara and Gonzaga meet again on Saturday for an 11:30 a.m. first serve in Spokane.

QUOTABLE – HEAD COACH ERIN LINDSEY

"This was an interesting and fun match to compete in. There was a lot of good blocking and digging on both sides and I thought Gonzaga put some pressure on us with how they served. The biggest thing I'm taking away is how much we grew as a team. We had so many opportunities to work on our execution. The team did an excellent job of making adjustments and keeping composure, so we were able to execute at the end of fourth set and into fifth. That's what you want to see in a back-and-forth match. You want to know where you need to be and what you need to do. I am proud of how the student-athletes competed and that they came away with a win today."

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