Volleyball Keeps On Winning

By Ryan Mahoney

The Santa Clara women's volleyball team notched yet another conference victory on Saturday, defeating the University of Portland Pilots 3 games to 1. 

"It's always good to come home and have a match," said Head Coach Jon Wallace. "And for us to play Portland before we have to play (the University of San Francisco) this Thursday, it allows us to get more familiar with our own gym again. Our crowds have been great here." 

Saturday marked the Broncos' 19th victory of the year. 

"(The win) was very big," said sophomore Chelsea Heier. "It gives us momentum for this weekend." 

The Broncos came into the match looking to keep on rolling through West Coast Conference play, coming off of two big-road wins at the University of San Diego and USF. 

The Pilots, who remained winless in WCC play, were not willing to roll over as all four games were close.

"We didn't play this match against Portland as clean as we have been playing," said Wallace. "We did have a lot of unforced errors, attacking errors and serving errors as well."

The Broncos won the first game 25-19, thanks in no small part to the play of Megan Anders, who was among the team leaders on Saturday. She hit .351 with a team leading 19 kills. 

"It's important that we take the win as a win, but also that we learn from it," Anders said. "It was an important win and a good team effort, but we can do better."

Anders' teammates were very impressed with her play. 

"Megan (Anders) put the team on her back," said Heier. "She gave us a lot of kills, which is what we needed."

Despite dropping the first game, the Pilots rallied back in game two, winning the game 25-21.

Santa Clara ran out to an early lead in the third game, and ended up taking it from the Pilots, 25-20. The final game was the most lopsided of all, as the Broncos took the game 25-18. The Broncos outhit the Pilots .185 to .119 overall on the day.  

The Broncos will now prepare for another game against USF before turning their eyes to the challenge of traveling to Provo, Utah, to face the WCC-leading Brigham Young University Cougars. BYU has yet to lose at home, but the Broncos should have some extra confidence thanks to a win over BYU at the Leavey Center in front of a boisterous crowd on Oct. 20.   

"We're putting everything into USF on Thursday," said Wallace. "BYU, that's an easy match to get fired up for. This year, we're walking into that gym with the sense of being a big underdog. We did beat them at home, so we know that we can beat them, and that's a good way to go into that match." 

Contact Ryan Mahoney at rmahoney@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.