SANTA CLARA, Calif. --- Junior Marissa Plummer posted 16 kills on a .469 hitting percentage in addition to her five digs and four blocks but the Santa Clara Broncos edged the Pilots for a four set victory at the Leavey Center Saturday afternoon (30-28, 23-25, 25-21 and 25-14).

 

The teams started the match with a close first set as Portland (10-17, 3-8 WCC) opened to an 11-7 lead. A well-timed Santa Clara (14-11, 5-6 WCC) timeout enabled the Broncos to take five of six points to tie the set at 12. Santa Clara then slowly built a three point lead late in the set for a 21-18 advantage. The Pilots battled back to take seven of the next ten points to take the 25-24 lead before the teams began trading points up to 28. The Broncos then took the last two points on kills from Dana Knudsen and Kaleigh Durkett to take the 1-0 set advantage. Durkett would finish with a match-high 19 kills on a .438 hitting percentage.

 

Portland then began the second set with a 7-3 advantage but the Broncos refused to let the Pilots pull away, eventually taking a 14-13 lead. The teams once again traded points for a lengthy run, leading to a tie at 22 apiece. Portland sided out for a 23-22 lead and then forced set point as sophomore setter Madison Smith deposited a service ace into Bronco territory. After the Broncos closed the gap back down to one, sophomore middle blocker Rachel Femling finished the set with a kill.

 

The third set saw much of the same intensity as the first two with neither team being able to establish a comfortable lead. Tied late at 17, however, Santa Clara managed to pull away at the right time with a 4-1 run, eventually finishing with the 25-21 set victory.

 

Smith, coming off a career night on Thursday, posted another solid outing for the Pilots, notching 53 assists with eight digs and two aces. Junior outside hitter Kati Hronek recorded another double-digit kill effort with 15 while sophomores Ariel Usher (11 kills, 6 digs) and Kate Bostwick (8 kills, 9 digs) just missed double-doubles for the Pilots. 

 

“Kati and Marissa were playing at a high level the entire match,” Pilots head coach Joe Houck said afterwards. “I loved the effort and intensity we played with and we really showed competitive maturity this weekend.”

Senior libero Danielle Dupar finished the match with 21 digs, which puts her in exclusive Pilot company. She joins Ann Pinkowski, Murphy McClenahan, and Laura Coyle as the only Pilots to have recorded 1,500 career digs on The Bluff. She also joins Carlie Price, Coyle, and Pinkowski as the only Pilots with 500 digs in a season. 

 

Portland returns to The Bluff for their final home stand of the 2010 season. Pepperdine comes to the Chiles Center on Thursday, November 11, for a 7 PM match. The Loyola Marymount Lions then arrive for the home finale at 1 PM on Saturday.