Dec. 13, 2005

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Santa Clara To Compete In Final Four

Santa Clara University continues its amazing season, advancing to the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship Final Four. The Broncos are the first team in West Coast Conference history to advance to the women's volleyball semifinals. Santa Clara defeated conference rival Pepperdine, 3-0, in the Sweet 16, sending the Broncos to the Elite Eight. The Broncos then outlasted No. 6 Arizona in a five-game thriller to advance to their first-ever Final Four. The Broncos join Nebraska, Tennessee, and Washington in the national semifinals. Tennessee and Washington will square off in the first semifinal, while the Broncos and the Huskers tangle in the second semifinal. Thursday's winners will advance to Saturday's championship match with the national title on the line.

NCAA FINAL FOUR SCHEDULE
Site: The Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas
Host: University of Texas-San Antonio

NCAA Semifinal No. 1 - Thursday, December 15
Tennessee (24-8) vs. Washington (30-1) - 4:00 PM $

NCAA Semifinal No. 2 - Thursday, December 15
Nebraska (31-1) vs. Santa Clara (27-4) - 6:00 PM $ *

NCAA Championship Match - Saturday, December 17
Tennessee/Washington vs. Nebraska/Santa Clara - 3:00 PM %

$ Televised live on ESPNU; * Second semifinal starts 30 minutes after the first semifinal has ended; % Televised live on ESPN2; All Times PST

Santa Clara's Road To The Final Four

NCAA First Round Recap
Santa Clara 3, Sacramento State 1
The WCC Champions took out a feisty Sacramento State team in four games, overcoming a slow start to eventually win 23-30, 30-23, 30-20, and 30-23. Five Broncos scored in double-digits kills, led by 17 kills apiece by freshman outside hitter Brittany Lowe and sophomore middle blocker Annalisa Muratore. Sophomore middle blocker Anna Cmaylo chipped in with 16 kills, while junior outside hitter Kim McGiven and senior opposite produced 15 and 11 kills, respectively.

NCAA Second Round Recap
Santa Clara 3, Stanford 1
Santa Clara upset Bay Area rival and fifth-seeded Stanford in four games to advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in school history. Despite dropping the first game by a score of 23-30, Santa Clara refocused to take the rest of the games by scores of 30-19, 30-27, and 31-29 to earn its first win over the Cardinal in 20 tries. As a team, Santa Clara hit a stellar .393 and they had five players hit over .300. Junior outside hitter Kim McGiven led the way with 19 kills.

NCAA Third Round Recap
Santa Clara 3, Pepperdine 0
On her 20th birthday, sophomore setter Crystal Matich dished out 47 assists and led Santa Clara to a .368 hitting percentage in a 3-0 win over conference rival Pepperdine in the Sweet 16. Three players hit over .400 for Santa Clara, led by Anna Cmaylo and Annalisa Muratore. Cmaylo recorded a match-high 14 kills to go along with a .765 hitting percentage, while Muratore collected 13 kills and hit .500. Senior Cassie Perret hit .465 on her way to 11 kills on the night.

NCAA Quarterfinal Round Recap
Santa Clara 3, Arizona 2
Led by Palo Alto Regional Co-MVP Kim McGiven, the Broncos outlasted Arizona in a five game thriller to advance to the NCAA Final Four. The Broncos are the first-ever WCC team to advance to the national semifinals. McGiven hammered home 25 kills and collected 15 digs versus the Wildcats. In addition to McGiven's regional Co-MVP honor, Brittany Lowe, Crystal Matich, and Caroline Walters all earned a place on the Palo Alto Regional all-tournament team.

Around The WCC

WCC In The NCAA Tournament
WCC volleyball teams are no stranger to the NCAA Tournament. In fact, since 1997, the WCC has sent at least three teams into the postseason each year, including five this season, the highest ratio (5-of-8) of any conference in the country. In the past three seasons alone, the WCC has sent 15 teams into the NCAA Tournament with four teams advancing last season and a conference record six teams in 2003. Santa Clara is the first WCC school in the history of the conference to advance to the women's volleyball Final Four.

Three WCC Teams Ranked Among The Nation's Best
Three WCC teams are ranked among the nation's elite. Santa Clara is the highest ranked WCC team, coming in at No. 11 in the latest CSTV/AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 Poll, followed by Pepperdine, which jumped up to No. 19, and San Diego, which is ranked No. 21. The Broncos jumped up to No. 3 in the Volleyball Magazine top 20.

WCC Among The Elite Volleyball Conferences In The Country
Over the last three seasons, the West Coast Conference has established itself as one of the premier women's volleyball conferences in the country. In addition to sending 15 teams into the NCAA Tournament in the last three seasons, including five teams into the Sweet Sixteen during that span, the WCC has maintained a top 10 RPI listing. The conference is enjoying perhaps its best season in league history and appears to be on the verge of yet another top five RPI rating.

WCC RPI Rankings
2004 - 6th
2003 - 4th
2002 - 7th

Santa Clara Postseason Notes

Santa Clara Broncos (27-4 / 12-2 WCC)
- The Broncos, in their eighth consecutive NCAA Tournament, advanced to the Final Four with a 3-0 win over conference rival Pepperdine in the Sweet 16 and earned a thrilling 3-2 win over No. 6 Arizona in the Elite Eight.

- The Broncos are enjoying a historic ride this season. Santa Clara is advancing to its first-ever women's volleyball Final Four and is the first West Coast Conference team to advance to the NCAA national semifinals.

- Santa Clara's 27 wins ties the Broncos' 2000 squad (27-5) for the most wins in program history. The 27 wins also tie Pepperdine's 2003 team (27-3) for the most wins by a WCC school in a single season.

- The Broncos win over rival Stanford in the second round of the NCAA Tournament was a historic one. It marked the first time that Santa Clara had defeated Stanford in the sport of women's volleyball in 20 tries and sent the Broncos to their first-ever NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen.

- Junior outside hitter Kim McGiven was named the Co-MVP of the Palo Alto Regional, sharing the honor with Arizona All-American Kim Glass. McGiven led the Broncos with a double-double, putting down a team-high 25 kills and collecting 15 digs.

- Along with McGiven, three other Santa Clara players totaled 10 or more kills. Freshman outside hitter Brittany Lowe posted her 15th double-double of the season with 11 kills and 14 digs, while sophomore middle blockers Annalisa Muratore and Anna Cmaylo had 10 kills each in the winning effort.

- Sophomore setter Crystal Matich, who was named Collegiate Volleyball Updates National Player of the Week (12/6), guided the Broncos' attack, handing out 47 assists and setting SCU to a .368 hitting percentage against the Waves. On the following night, she distributed 54 assists and collected nine digs versus Arizona. On the season, Matich has the Broncos attacking at a WCC-best rate of .288.

- In addition to McGiven's regional Co-MVP honor, Lowe, Matich, and sophomore libero Caroline Walters all earned a place on the Palo Alto Regional all-tournament team, joining Arizona's Jennifer Abernathy and Ohio's Savanah Parra.

- Senior Cassie Perret and Cmaylo were named to the AVCA Division I All-Pacific region team.

- Four Broncos landed on the All-WCC first team in Perret, Cmaylo, McGiven and Lowe. The Broncos nearly swept the conference's yearly awards with Perret being named Player of the Year, Lowe taking home Freshman of the Year honors and Head Coach Jon Wallace being named Coach of the Year. Perret is just the third Santa Clara player in WCC history to earn the league's top honor, joining former Bronco standouts Kris Kosnoski (1993) and Ynez Carrasco (2000). Lowe becomes the second consecutive SCU player to garner the conference's Freshman of the Year award, and the third overall, following Annalisa Muratore, who took home the honor in 2004, and Becky Potter (2000).

- The Broncos lead the WCC in several team and individual statistical categories. Santa Clara leads the conference in hitting percentage (.288), while limiting its opponents to a WCC-low .179 attack percentage. Led by Matich, the WCC assist leader, the Broncos pace the WCC in assists (16.02) and kills (16.84) per game. The Broncos .288 hitting percentage ranks 11th in the nation, their 16.84 kills per game is the eighth best clip in the country, and their 16.02 assists per game rank third.

- The top three most efficient attackers in the WCC were Broncos. Muratore hit .372 to lead the conference in overall hitting percentage, followed by Perret (.370) and Cmaylo (.361).

- Four Broncos have registered double-doubles this season. Lowe led Santa Clara and all WCC freshmen with 15 double-doubles, while McGiven notched 10, followed by Perret's seven and Matich's four.