BYU Handed Their Second Loss

By Henry Gula

"A signature win" was how Head Coach Jon Wallace described last Saturday's three sets to two defeat of 18th ranked Brigham Young University.
The Santa Clara women's volleyball team hosted BYU last Saturday, facing a Cougar team with a 19-1 record. The Broncos brought everything they had and fought to the end, needing all five sets to pull out their biggest win of the year.
"I literally could not get a smile off my face," said middle blocker Megan Anders of the feeling after the win.
The Broncos got a career-best performance from Anders, who set her personal record with 25 kills.
Anders was named West Coast Conference Player of the Week for her performance.
"Megan has been playing at a high level all season and it's fantastic for the conference to recognize her efforts this past week," Wallace told Santa Clara Athletics online.
The Broncos won the first set after several break points.
"We prepared all week to really know exactly what (they) were doing," said Anders. "We brought in a couple of guys from the men's team to hit over us to imitate what they were going to do."
Katy Schatzman, the Broncos' libero, had an especially solid game. Schatzman led the team with 17 digs, which helped keep rallies alive and helped offset the strong attack from BYU's high-powered offense.
"The goal for me was to stop number 19, and I think we stopped her really well," said Schatzman.
She was referring to the 6-foot-7-inch Jennifer Hamson of the Cougars, a force to be reckoned with due to her size and hitting ability.
Wallace, Schatzman, and Anders all identified special preparation and a stellar scouting report as keys behind their victory.
"We had to play the game tight to our talent to have a chance to win and we did that," Wallace commented.
"You have less to lose, it's more fun to play a team you're not supposed to beat," said Anders. "If you get blocked, then you get blocked; it's all about competing really hard."
Wallace was pleased not only with the effort of his team, but also the team's improvement over the course of the season.
"Our girls have been getting tougher and tougher week by week," he said. "They were more determined to win this week than in the previous weeks."
The Broncos will next face 25th ranked Saint Mary's College at home today.
"Saint Mary's is a big rival, especially for my family," said Schatzman of the matchup.
With the win over BYU and their schedule, featuring ranked and conference opponents, the Broncos have set up their path to earn an NCAA tournament bid at the end of the season in mid-November.
"We're on the bubble, we have eight matches left and four of them are against teams ahead of us," said Wallace.
Anders said, "I can still smile about that one. There were people jumping out of the stands, and it was just so much fun."
Contact Henry Gula at hgula@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.