No. 20 Beach Volleyball Earns Record-Setting Wins with Sweep at Stanford

Hailey Lindberg split a pair of duals alongside Sarah Vaccaro at the No. 3 position Thursday. Photo is courtesy of Santa Clara.

STANFORD, Calif. - Santa Clara beach volleyball swept a pair of nonconference matches against San José State and Stanford Thursday, setting a new program record with its eighth and ninth wins in a single season.

The 20^th-ranked Broncos (9-2) beat the Spartans (8-11) before returning back to the courts to take down the Cardinal (5-10) on their home court.

Match 1: No. 20 Santa Clara 3 San José State 2
The Broncos started Thursday's action with a hard-fought comeback win against the Spartans.  Four of the five duals went to third sets in the tightly contested match, which ended up with the Broncos notching their program-best eighth win on the season.  The 3-2 victory was their second defeat of the Spartans in a week's span, also beating them 4-1 on April 7.

Down 2-1 heading into the final two pairings, Danielle Rottman and Nikki Hess at the No. 2 spot, and
Kirsten Mead and Sabrina Clayton at the No. 1 pairing, were each able to pull out victories to win the match for the Broncos.

As the last grouping to finish, Rottman/Hess defeated Jamie Hirai and Allison Meehan on a Hess kill to complete the match.  Rottman/Hess were the only duo in the match able to win their pairing in just two sets. 

 

Mead/Clayton were able to avenge a loss in their previous dual against Julia Menhart and Hana Tresnakova, defeating them 15-10 in the third set.

The other Bronco victory came at the No. 3 pairing where Sarah Vaccaro and Hailey Lindberg defeated Lyndi Scholl and Tyanna Roy.  Vaccaro/Lindberg took the first set before dropping the second, only to rebound and cruise to a 15-10 third set victory.

Santa Clara's Jensen Cunningham and Lacey Maas fell in three sets to Nandyala Gama and Julie Sam at the No. 4 pairing, while Madison Dutra and Mary Shepherd also dropped their dual at the No. 5 spot in three sets to San José Sate's Summer Avery and Luiza Andrade.

Results:
No. 1 - Kirsten Mead/Sabrina Clayton (Santa Clara) def. Hana Tresnakova/Julia Menhart (SJSU); 17-21, 21-18, 15-10

No. 2 - Danielle Rottman/Nikki Hess (Santa Clara) def. Allison Meehan/Jamie Hirai (SJSU); 22-20, 21-17

No. 3 - Sarah Vacarro/Hailey Lindberg (Santa Clara) def. Tyanna Roy/Lyndi Scholl (SJSU); 21-13, 16-21, 15-10

No. 4 - Nandyala Gama/Julie Sam (SJSU) def. Jensen Cunningham/Lacey Maas (Santa Clara); 21-10, 19-21, 15-13

No. 5 - Summer Avery/Luiza Andrade (SJSU) def. Madison Dutra/Mary Shepherd (Santa Clara); 22-24, 21-9, 15-8

Exh. - Tatiana San Juan/Jensen Cunningham (Santa Clara) def. Julia Golbeck/Mariana Mantellato (SJSU); 28-22

Match 2: No. 20 Santa Clara 4 Stanford 1


The Broncos returned to the courts to finish off a successful day, earning a convincing 4-1 victory over the Cardinal.

 Cunningham and Maas clinched the match for Santa Clara at the No. 4 pairing, defeating Stanford's Courtney Bowen and Jennifer DiSanto in a back-and-forth three sets.  Cunningham/Mass were able to pull out a thrilling 15-13 victory in the third set to ensure the victory for their team.

Rottman and Hess beat Ivana Vanjak and Catherine Raquel at the No. 2 slot, giving the Bronco duo two wins and a clean 4-0 set record on the day.

Mead and Clayton were also able to go 2-0 on the day as they took down Hayley Hodson and Payton Chang in the No. 1 group.  After dropping the first set, Mead/Clayton had to battle to take the second set 21-18, and then were able to edge out a 15-13 third-set victory.

At the No. 5 pairing, Dutra and Shepherd evened their record at 1-1 on the day by defeating Tami Alade and Alexis Froistad in straight sets.

The Broncos' lone defeat came at the No. 3 spot where Vacarro and Lindberg fell in three sets to Merete Lutz and Halland McKenna.  Vacarro/Lindberg fell in a tense 17-15 third set, but finished the day with a 1-1 record.

Results:
No. 1 - Mead/Clayton (Santa Clara) def. Hayley Hodson/Payton Chang (Stanford); 15-21, 21-18, 15-13

No. 2 - Rottman/Hess (Santa Clara) def. Ivana Vanjak/Catherine Raquel (Stanford); 21-14, 21-12

No. 3 - Merete Lutz/Halland McKenna (Stanford) def. Vacarro/Lindberg (Santa Clara); 12-21, 21-16, 17-15

No. 4 - Cunningham/Maas (Santa Clara) def. Courtney Bowen/Jennifer DiSanto (Stanford); 21-17, 20-22, 15-13

No. 5 - Dutra/Shepherd (Santa Clara) def. Tami Alade/Alexis Froistad (Stanford); 21-12, 21-17

Next up:
The Broncos head to Berkeley, California, to face Saint Mary's and No. 14 Cal (1 p.m./4 p.m.) on Saturday.