Santa Clara Off to Strong Starts in Season-Openers

Volleyball, Baseball, Golf, Softball and Cross Country open their 2021 campaigns

The resumption of Santa Clara sports has been a long anticipated moment, with student-athletes anxiously awaiting their return. Many collegiate sports experienced the longest offseasons in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) history, with COVID-19 postponing events for months and forcing players to quarantine in a “bubble.” 

Well, the day has finally come. The Broncos are back. 

Volleyball: Snags First Win of the Season

After 440 days between matches, Santa Clara volleyball finally began their season on Feb. 16 against a nationally ranked University of San Diego squad in Leavey Center. The suspension of the 2020 season and the delay to the 2021 spring schedule created lengthy downtime for the Broncos who are eager to build off last year’s postseason victory—the university’s first since 2008. 

The Broncos lost their first three matches of the season before claiming a victory against Pacific on Wednesday night in straight sets. 

Santa Clara competed with No. 18 San Diego last week, bringing the reigning West Coast Conference (WCC) champions to four games in both contests. Santa Clara continued their schedule this week with back-to-back games against Pacific. The Broncos won the first two sets in each matchup but were only able to secure a victory in the latter. Hopefully this win gets them rolling.

Head Coach Erin Lindsey won 20-plus games last year for the first time since 2015. Santa Clara must continue their success in the WCC this season to establish themselves as a conference heavy-weight.

Baseball: Beats Nationally Ranked UC Santa Barbara

Santa Clara baseball commenced their 2021 season this past weekend with a three-game road series against the No. 8 team in the country at the University California Santa Barbara (UCSB). After winning their season-opening game on Friday, the Broncos lost the next two contests to drop their season-opening series at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. 

The Broncos went 12-5 in their pandemic-shortened season last spring. This year’s returning squad looks to continue their winning ways with many similar faces, including 32 returning players. 

“Our strength,” Head Coach Rusty Filter explained, “is our older players, the veterans that have been around and the leadership they bring daily.”

Santa Clara’s seasoned group faces another early season test on Thursday when the team begins a four-game set against Stanford University. 

Golf: Battles Stanford in Dual-Match

The long-awaited resumption of Santa Clara golf kicked off this month for the men and women’s teams.

Earlier this month, the women’s team finished The Valley Invitational in Bakersfield, Calif. in ninth place. This week, the women continued their season with the team’s second tournament of the year in Seal Beach, Calif. The Broncos sent six golfers to the 54-hole, two-day tournament and finished in 10th place. Lauren Shew played best among her Santa Clara peers, finishing the tournament in 26th place overall. 

The Santa Clara men’s golf team will start their season with a new coach at the helm. Andrew Larkin, former assistant coach for the University of California, Los Angeles, made his head coaching debut against Stanford earlier this week. 

Unfortunately, the Broncos came up short against the Cardinals, losing by a score of 8-5. All 10 members of Santa Clara’s squad participated in the one-day event at Stanford, with fifth-year senior Matt McCarthy recording the best score of the competition with a -5. Coach Larkin was quite pleased with his squad’s performance. 

“I couldn't be more excited to see what this team is capable of,” said Larkin. “It's been a long wait to get this team in competition and they have put in the work to succeed. I have no doubt that whatever this season brings, the wait will have been worth it.”

Coach Larkin was named a finalist for the Jan Strickland Outstanding Assistant Coach Award in 2019 and brings a strong coaching pedigree with him to lead the Broncos.

Softball: Upsets Stanford in Home Opener

In their home-opener on Tuesday, the Broncos’ softball squad got some revenge on Stanford University. 

After losing 8-0 to the Stanford Cardinals earlier in the week, Broncos starting pitcher Regan Dias returned the favor as she pitched a complete-game shutout, handing the Broncos’ rival their first loss of the season. 

Dias was under control from the start on Tuesday, as she kept Stanford’s powerful lineup at bay while only allowing two hits. The offense was able to back-up Dias’ masterpiece by getting on the board early in the first and never looking back.

Santa Clara will look to continue their winning ways this weekend against California Baptist on Friday (Feb. 26) and the University of California Berkeley on Sunday (Feb. 28).

Cross Country: Finishes Fourth in WCC Championships

Wednesday was a monumental day for Santa Clara Cross Country as the men and women’s squad traveled to Las Vegas to compete in the 2020 WCC Cross Country Championships. 

After a 15-month hiatus, the WCC finally concluded their 2020 season; the Santa Clara men took fourth place in the Conference Championship, with the women placing seventh. 

Redshirt senior Jack Davidson led the men with an 8k timestamp of 23:37.7, earning a spot on the All-WCC Team—the first Bronco to accomplish this feat since 2009. Santa Clara’s fourth place finish is the second consecutive year the squad finished in that position, with all top-three teams finishing ahead of the Broncos––Brigham Young (BYU), Gonzaga, Portland––ranking in the nation’s top 20. 

“We are closing the gap on them every year,” Head Coach Felipe Montoro emphasized. “I’m so proud of the team.” 
The women were led by freshman Kinsey Hall and her 6k time of 22:57.3. Hall’s collegiate debut was special; she was one of five Broncos to record points for the university.