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Volleyball Falls to Santa Clara 3-1
Oct. 30, 2009
(Santa Clara) - USF Volleyball opened the second half of West Coast Conference play Friday, dropping a 3-1 decision (23-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-14) to Santa Clara Friday at the Leavey Center in Santa Clara. Junior Sarah Mandala led the Dons with 17 kills and seven digs.
With the loss, USF drops below .500 to 10-11 and a 4-4 mark against West Coast Conference opponents. Thanks to the victory, Santa Clara improved to 14-9 overall, 4-4 in league play.
The SCU offense was overwhelming for the Dons, hitting at a .300 clip with five aces, in addition to 11 team blocks. USF hit at just a .167 clip, three aces and four team blocks.
Outside hitter Sarah Mandala led USF with 17 kills, seven digs and a block in the contest. Mandala was the lone Don to record double-digit kills. Senior Anna Berger added eight kills, while Alycia Cox, Hadley Simmons and Erin Bragg each recorded seven.
Alaina Sully and Leanna Lude s ran the offense for San Francisco, with 25 and 20 assists, respectively.
Defensively, USF was paced by senior Haley Carroll with 21 digs, as the libero continues her push to 2,000 career digs. Currently, the Gilroy native is 39 digs shy of the benchmark.
The Dons will return to action this week as USF hosts Saint Mary's and San Diego at War Memorial Gym. Action begins Thursday at 7 p.m.
