SPOKANE, Wash. - Santa Clara volleyball defeated Gonzaga 25-21, 25-16, 25-22 on Saturday to win its third straight including a sweep of the two-match road trip to the Pacific Northwest.
The Broncos (7-11, 3-5) outhit the Zags .238 to .162 and were led by Sophia Tulino's 15 kills and a 10 kill, 11 dig double-double by Julia Sangiacomo.
Michelle Shaffer had a match-high 14 digs to go along with seven kills for the Broncos in the West Coast Conference contest.
Cara McKenzie and Juliette Russell each had 10 kills, hitting .389 and .348, respectively, to lead Gonzaga (6-13, 2-6) but no other Zag hit over .125.
The Zags pushed back in the third set. They trailed 19-18 on a kill by McKenzie, but four straight errors put the Broncos in control and they closed it out on a kill from Shaffer.
Coming off Thursday's thrilling comeback at Portland, Santa Clara closed out the opening set with a 6-2 run to take it 25-21. Tulino paced the Broncos with five kills.
SCU hit a blistering .386 and committed just one attack error in the second set to claim the second set 25-16.
Match point! The Broncos sweep the Bulldogs!! #StampedeTogether pic.twitter.com/SLqZPSBcbe
— Santa Clara Volleyball (@scuvolleyball) October 16, 2021
NOTES
- Santa Clara now leads the all-time series with Gonzaga, 54-15
- The 15 kills by Sophia Tulino marked her 12th match of the season with double digit kills.
- The 14 digs by Michelle Shaffer matched the second highest total of the year. She had 20 digs against Portland in the first match of the current Northwest road trip.
QUOTABLE
I'm really proud of the team's effort this weekend bringing our fight to Portland and Gonzaga. We have been working on cleaning up the details so we can find more balance in our offense and I think we got better at that every set this week. Sophia and Michelle have done a great job attacking from their pins and Julia is providing great balance and a threat out of the back row. We are excited to compete again next week in Leavey.
- Head coach Erin Lindsey
NEXT UP
The Broncos return home to host Pacific on Thursday. First serve is set for 6 p.m.
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