PORTLAND, Ore. — They just won't stop winning!
The Santa Clara University volleyball team extended its winning streak to five Friday, beating host Portland State on the road in the first round of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship, 3-1 (27-25, 25-23, 26-28, 25-21), at Viking Pavilion.
Santa Clara (13-18) concluded its regular season by winning four West Coast Conference matches in a row over the last two weeks, then kept its season alive Friday with another victory. Friday marked the beginning of the Broncos' 19th postseason appearance all-time – their second in the NIVC – and the win over Portland State (18-13) was their 13th all-time in postseason play.
Santa Clara had three players log double-digit kills and two with double-doubles. Julia Sangiacomo had 17 kills with 12 digs and four blocks. Layla Truitt tallied 15 kills with 10 digs. Sohpia Tulino had 10 kills, five blocks, three service aces, three digs and an assist in an all-around performance. Nive Tuileta had a match-high 48 assists and narrowly missed a double-double with nine digs. The Broncos totaled 11 blocks as a team and had 55 digs in four sets, tied for their second-most in a four-set match this season. The defense held Portland State to .184 hitting, including .069 in the fourth and final set.
Sangiacomo reached the 1,500 career kills mark with her second kill of the match and passed it with her third – both in the first set. She's just the fourth Santa Clara player ever to surpass the 1,500 career kills mark.
Portland State featured four players with double-figure terminations, led by Parker Webb's match-high 19. Makayla Lewis had 12 kills and eight digs, Ashleigh Barto had 11 kills and Sophia Meyers had 10. Setter Madison Friebel posted a double-double with 35 assists and 10 digs. Ellie Snook also had a double-double with 10 assists and a match-high 21 digs.
Friday's match was as close as it could be, with each of the first three sets being decided by the minimum two points, including two that went to extra points. Santa Clara may have given itself the mental edge early when it fought off five set points and went on a 7-1 run to win, 27-25, and earn the set victory.
Only twice in the second set did either team lead by more than three points. And when Santa Clara went ahead 24-20, the Vikings tried to pull off what the Broncos had in the first, scoring three points in a row to make it 24-23. But SCU held them off to grab a 2-0 match lead on a solo block from Nive Tuileta.
Santa Clara had to come from behind again in the third set trying to go for the sweep, scoring four points in a row after trailing 24-21 to take a 25-24 lead and set itself up with a match point. Portland State tied it at 25-25 with a kill, then Santa Clara had another chance to sweep after going up 26-25 on a kill from Sangiacomo. But the Vikings reeled off three consecutive points to wint he set, 28-26, and stay alive.
PSU jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the fourth and looked like it had grabbed the momentum to send the match to a deciding fifth set. Santa Clara answered with a 5-1 run to tie it at 7-7, and the teams would not be separated by more than three points again until the end. Portland State still led, 19-17, but the Broncos surged yet again. An 8-2 run to close the match included five Vikings errors and gave SCU a 25-21 set win and 3-1 match victory.
Santa Clara next faces WCC foe Pacific at 7 p.m. Saturday at Portland State in the second round of the NIVC. Fans can find all live coverage links on the Broncos' schedule page.
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