SAN FRANCISCO – The University of San Francisco volleyball team used stout defense, furious comebacks and stellar passing to take down Santa Clara in straight sets Friday night at War Memorial Gym.

"Every time you go into conference play there's obviously a little bit of nerves in the beginning and we had a change in the lineup tonight, but I was very proud of how focused we were and the chemistry on the floor," said head coach Gilad Doron. "We wanted to be very aggressive with Santa Clara. They're a very good team and they came here very hot. I'm happy we won in three."

The Dons started each of the evening's three sets behind on the scoreboard. But by the time the 25th point was tallied in each frame, USF reigned victorious and earned its fifth three-set sweep of the season. With the victory, the Dons move to 8-5 (1-0 WCC) and Santa Clara stands at 10-4 (0-1 WCC). Despite trailing in the overall all-time series tally by a mark of 13-59 against the Broncos, USF has taken wins in the past three meetings.

"The crowd was great tonight," noted Doron. "We missed home, and I thought that it was good to be back home and play in front of our home crowd and show them why we are a fun team to watch."

In the first set, the Dons fell behind 3-0 in the early with Sabrina Clayton at the service line before Katarina Pilepic's first of a baker's dozen of kills went off the block and down for the point. With 15 ties in the frame, the Dons and Broncos engaged in a neck in neck battle from that moment forward in the first set.

With the final tie coming at 18-18 immediately following a Santa Clara timeout, the Dons responded with a kill from senior leader Valentina Zaloznik. Then, Pilepic's powerful shot went through the hands of the defensive block attempt to put the Dons up two. After a solid rally, a scrappy dig by libero Kim Gutierrez led to another Pilepic slam, off the assist from Kiara McKibben. With the momentum firmly in their favor, USF closed the set with a kill down the line from Oluoma Okaro with the pass from Jurja Vlasic as USF notched the 25-22 victory.

In the second, USF again fell behind, but this time the Broncos built the lead to 11-6 and forced Doron to use a timeout. After the break, the Dons made a lineup change, bringing Pilepic and McKibben onto the floor as Zaloznik moved to the front line.

"We came back with the double sub of Kiara and Katarina and they both played at a really high level, and I thought the overall energy was good," explained Doron. "Val was in the front and she just started to take over. She blocked, she dug, she hit, and at some point you said nothing is going to go through her today. She was just all over the place defensively and her leadership. I think that made everybody kind of calm down around her and start just playing one point at a time. Before we knew it, we scored seven straight points and never looked back and that really put Santa Clara in a tough situation."

USF regained the lead at 12-11 on a block by Zaloznik and Jessica Gaffney, that was followed by a pound by Pilepic, off the assist from Zaloznik. The Dons continued to grow the advantage with another six-point swing as Zaloznik was at the serve to put the home team ahead 21-13. USF eventually closed the frame with a final tally of 25-15 after Sara Staengle's kill to center court put the Dons up 2-0 heading into halftime.

In the third, Santa Clara again opened the scoring, but after Zaloznik's serve hit the tape and fell in for the ace to put the Dons up 3-2, USF was in cruise control. The Dons grew the lead to 18-10 on a solo stuff from Zaloznik. Despite a late-game rally which saw the Broncos pull within four, the Dons went on to close the frame by a final score of 25-19 and send Santa Clara down the Peninsula.

The Dons got a match-high 13 kills from Pilepic, and Zaloznik added nine to her name. McKibben and Vlasic both posted double-digit assists numbers, while three Dons finished with at least 10 kills, led by 12 from Gutierrez. Zaloznik added six blocks on the evening to pull into a tie for eighth on the all-time blocks lists, now amassing 355 total blocks during her time on the Hilltop. As a team, the Dons outhit the Broncos .245 to .115 and posted a 12 to 8 advantage in total team blocks.

"I think we need to feel good about how we blocked today and how we defended," said Doron. "I think we can improve our offensive efficiency, but we can definitely build on the confidence. Playing again at home, we're going to need to come up with the same energy as tonight. This is a conference game and Saint Mary's is going to come in here with the same mindset that we have, but we need to defend our home court. Today, I thought it started with our passing, and everybody did their part. When everybody does their part, we are a very solid team so hopefully we can do it again on Tuesday."

Next, USF plays host to Gaels in a rare Tuesday night matchup at War Memorial Gym. First serve between the Dons and its Bay Bridge rival is at 7 p.m.