SANTA CLARA, Calif. – In the second to last match of the season, and final road contest of the year, the University of San Francisco women's volleyball team just didn't have their best stuff. The Dons fell to the Broncos in straight sets, falling 24-26, 21-25, 21-25 at the Leavey Center.
 
USF (7-10, 7-10 WCC) finished the night with more kills than the Broncos, 38 to 36, however Santa Clara was much more efficient hitting their 36 kills on 101 swings with only 13 errors, just five after the first set. The Dons finished the night with 20 errors, 15 of them coming after the tight opening set.

"We just made so many mistakes, we shot ourselves in the foot tonight, said head coach Frank Lavrisha. "Our hitting and scoring wasn't very good tonight and we didn't make it up in any other area. You're not going to win when you make that many mistakes. We just need to be able to hold on during a match and not let a team get away from us until we can score."

The Dons were led by McKenna Marshall's 14 kills. She was the only player in double figures for USF on the night.  Orsula Staka had a strong evening on the attack.  She finished with seven kills on 13 swings without an error for a stellar .538 attack percentage. Sophie Sydenham had six kills for USF, followed by Greta Corti with five.
 
Aylen Ayub finished the night with her sixth double-double of the year, and first since March 6 against BYU, with 27 assists and a team-high 11 digs. Bruna Correa had three aces and eight digs. Anna Dalla Vecchia had seven digs, the first time this season she has been held to single digits in digs.
 
Santa Clara (5-8, 5-8 WCC) finished the night with two players in double figures in kills. Julia Sangiacomo hit .333 which hitting a match-high 17 kills. Sophia Tulino finished with 14 kills and hit .265.  Setter Michelle Shaffer had 31 assists for the Broncos.
 
In the opening set the Dons hit .146 to the Broncos .190. The disparity in hitting percentage would be a factor later on in the set when the Dons hit into two of their five attack errors late in the frame.  USF jumped out to the early lead but the Broncos took the lead 22-21. SCU had set point up 24-22 when the Dons went on a 2-0 run to tie it at 24.  However, the Dons ran out of gas and the Broncos took the set on back-to-back points off a kill and a service ace by Tulino.
 
The second and third set followed the same script. In both sets the Broncos jumped out to an early six-point advantage. In both sets the Dons made a run late but the deficit was too much. USF hit .146 and .118 respectively, while the Broncos got better and better, hitting .250 in the second and .257 in the third.
 
USF will wrap up the 2020-21 season tomorrow night on the Hilltop when the Dons host the Broncos for game two of the split road/home series. Friday night will be Senior Night and the Dons will pay tribute to their lone senior, Anna Dalla Vecchia, in a pre-game ceremony. First serve is slated for 6:00 p.m. The match will be streamed live on the WCC Network with Pat Olson calling the action live from War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.