PORTLAND, Ore. - Sophia Tulino had 17 kills, and Michelle Shaffer and Julia Sangiacomo tallied 13 apiece to help rally Santa Clara volleyball to a thrilling five-set road victory over Portland.
The Broncos defeated the Pilots 21-25, 25-27, 25-22, 25-15, 15-11 in Thursday's West Coast Conference matchup.
Santa Clara (6-11, 2-5) was in control after being unable to close out the second set.
The Broncos scored three straight to take a 25-24 lead, but the Pilots (4-12, 1-6) answered with three in a row for a 2-0 lead in the match.
From there, Santa Clara outhit Portland .323 to .000. Tulino (12), Shaffer (8) and Sangiacomo (8) combined for 28 kills in the final three sets.
The Broncos had 14.0 total blocks to 7.0 for the Pilots in the match.
The final set was tied at at 7-all when the Broncos started to pull away with a pivotal 5-1 run. Shaffer scored via a kill, block assist and solo block in the deciding flurry.
The Pilots did score three straight to pull within 12-11, but Sangiacomo answered with a kill out of a Santa Clara timeout and the match ended on a pair of attack errors from Portland.
Jayde Harris had 15 kills and Grace Zilbert 17 digs for the Pilots.
What a gritty effort! Rallied for a five-set road @wccsports victory over Portland. Nice way to start out the NW trip. #StampedeTogether pic.twitter.com/iQ32dgOx9q
— Santa Clara Volleyball (@scuvolleyball) October 15, 2021
NOTES
- The Broncos rallied from a 2-0 deficit for the first time since knocking off Portland 20-25,20-25,25-19,25-19,15-9 at home on Oct. 19, 2019.
- Julia Sangiacomo (13) recorded double-digit kills for the 13th match this season. She had 11 digs for her third double-double of the year.
- Michelle Shaffer chalked up her sixth double-double of the year with a season-high 20 digs and 13 kills. She also had a career-high 8.0 blocks.
- Kat Georgiadis registered 18 digs, her ninth match with 17 or more. She entered the match leading the WCC in digs per set (4.31).
- Santa Clara now leads the all-time series, 60-13. The Broncos won both meetings in the spring during the postponed 2020 season, but the teams split the previous eight matchups. The first meeting between the programs occurred in 1979.
NEXT UP
The Broncos play at Gonzaga on Saturday. First serve is set for noon.
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