SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Back home to begin West Coast Conference play, the University of San Francisco volleyball team (7-5, 0-1 WCC) dropped their Friday night match to Santa Clara (5-8, 1-0 WCC) as the Broncos defeated the Dons, 3-0, in straight sets at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.
 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• Opening the match with some early firepower, Santa Clara jumped out to an early 7-3 advantage, but USF would quickly respond to trim their deficit to just one point, 13-12, midway through the first set. Despite the Dons being able to tie the match at 15 in the moments to follow, the Broncos used a 6-2 run of their own to jump back in front of USF as they ultimately went on to claim set one, 25-21.
• Similar to the first set, SCU raced out to an early 7-2 advantage in set two, but the Dons once again climbed back within a point, 7-6. Buckling down on offense, the Broncos found some rhythym as the match continued as they pieced together a dominant 9-4 run to widen the gap back to five, 19-14. Following a Maria Petkova kill that brought USF back within two, 21-19, Santa Clara closed out the second set by recording the final four points to win the set, 25-19, and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
• Aiming to defend their home court, the Dons grabbed a 5-3 advantage to begin the third set following a service error from the Broncos and a service ace from Claire Crijns. As the set played on, USF maintained their early lead, 10-8, but SCU answered by knotting the score at 12 halfway through the set. After this, the Broncos flexed their muscle once more as they rallied off a 6-0 run to go in front, 18-12. Never losing faith, the Dons then used a 7-1 run to tie the set again, this time at 19. Unfortunately, this is as close as USF would get to their Bay Area rival as Santa Clara dug deep to outscore the green and gold, 6-3, to close the match and secure the third set, 25-22.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• For Petkova, the sophomore tied her season-high with 18 total kills against the Broncos on Friday night. Overall, the outside hitter also added six digs and one block.
• Becoming more comfortable with each match, Isadora Nicolai registered 29 assists in the match, marking the third straight game she has tallied at least 20 assists and the fifth time in twelve matches this season.
• As a team, USF totaled 44 kills to Santa Clara's 40. Overall, each team also had five blocks and 36 assists each.

POSTGAME WITH THE DONS:

• To view the full highlights of tonight's match, please click here.
• To view the full interview with head coach Diogo Silva, please click here. 

UP NEXT:
USF will continue conference play with their first local road trip as the Dons will make the short jaunt across the Bay Bridge for a 7:00 pm battle at Saint Mary's on Tuesday night. USF's next home match is set for next Thursday, Sept. 29 when the Dons will host Pepperdine at 7:00 pm at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center. Live streaming and live statistics are available via the team's schedule page.
 
FOLLOW US:
For more information and updates on the University of San Francisco volleyball program, be sure to follow the Dons on Twitter @USFDonsVB, @USFDonsVB on Instagram and @USFDonsVball on Facebook.
 
SPONSOR THE DONS:
The University of San Francisco Athletics Department would like to acknowledge and thank our primary sponsor - Provident Credit Union - for their continued support of USF Athletics. Interested in sponsoring the Dons? Please contact Frank Allocco, the Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director of External Relations, at fallocco