Sept. 29, 2001

Box Score

Moraga, CA - The Saint Mary's women's volleyball team (2-8/0-2 WCC) suffered a 3-0 defeat to West Coast Conference rival #20 Santa Clara (8-4/1-1 WCC) on Saturday night at McKeon Pavilion. Jessie Mechem led the Broncos with a .483 hitting percentage en route to a match-high 16 kills.

The three game victory for Santa Clara was not as easy at it may appear. After Santa Clara jumped out to a 16-8 lead, Saint Mary's rallied and eventually took a 25-24 lead in game one. The Gaels extended the lead to 26-24 before the Broncos closed the game with seven of the final 10 points and a 31-29 win. Santa Clara closed the match with victories in games two and three by scores of 30-23 and 30-13, respectively.

Saint Mary's was strong at the net, tallying six blocks to Santa Clara's two. The Broncos posted a .262 hitting percentage in the match, compared to the .138 percentage for the Gaels. SCU tallied 58 total kills to 29 by Saint Mary's.

For the Gaels, Rachel Avilla had another strong night. Following a 12 kill night against San Francisco, Avilla posted 11 kills against Santa Clara and a .303 hitting percentage to lead the Gaels. Saint Mary's was led on the defensive side by Meg Hauser's 13 digs and Suzanne Sarkees added 10 digs.

Four players reached double digits in kills for the Broncos. Mechem led the way and was following by Becky Potter's 12. Toni Muratore and Jami Bari added 11 kills each. Bari also had a match-high 16 digs. Bronco setter Kelli Sousa placed passes for 48 assists.

Saint Mary's will return to action on Tuesday, October 2 when it travels to Berkeley to battle California. First serve is slated for 7:05 p.m. in Haas Pavilion.