The contest was the first of the season for both teams as Sacramento State dropped its season opener for the third-consecutive year and sixth time in the last eight years. In addition, Santa Clara has now won six-consecutive matches over Sacramento State spanning the last six years.

Toni Muratore’s 21 kills led all players as Annalisa Muratore, Cassie Perret (12) and Jac Heler (10) also had double figures in kills for Santa Clara. The Broncos led the Hornets in kills (76-64), hitting percentage (.184-.155), assists (69-58), aces (10-6), digs (100-92) and team blocks (18-11). In the fifth game, Sacramento State, which went just 1-5 in five-game matches last season, had just four kills with seven errors in 21 total attacks to go along with two service errors.

Senior Sandra Bandimere led the Hornets with 19 kills and a career-high 20 digs while sophomore Atlee Hubbard (17 kills, 17 digs and four blocks) and senior Emily Wilson (13 kills and a team-high six blocks) also had double figures in kills for the Hornets. The Hornets had five players with double-figure digs comprising of Bandimere, Hubbard, sophomore Kristin Lutes (17), senior Stephanie Gamst (14) and junior Mallory Hook (13). Gamst also finished with five kills, 50 assists and two blocks.

Santa Clara jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first frame as Sacramento State failed to record a kill until Bandimere''s blast cut the Broncos’ lead to 9-4. The Hornets, however, used an 11-5 run to take their first and only lead of the game at 15-14 on a kill from Hubbard. Both teams exchanged points during the rest of the game as Wilson drew the Hornets within, 27-26, with a kill. From that point, a Hornet attack error and kills from Toni and Annalisa Muratore eventually gave the Broncos a 30-27 game-one victory

In the second game, Santa Clara jumped out to another quick lead (4-0) before the Hornets clawed their way back. Trailing, 14-11, the Hornets went on a game-high 7-1 run to take their largest lead of the game at 18-15. Santa Clara, however, answered with a 5-2 run to tie the score at 20-20. Later in the frame with the score tied, 26-26, Hubbard recorded back-to-back kills, and Gamst and Arts combined on a block to put the Hornets on top, 29-26. After a Broncos point, Santa Clara setter Crystal Matich committed a ball-handling error to give the Hornets a 30-27 victory. Bandimere and Hubbard each had five kills in the game to pace the Hornets.

In the third frame, Sacramento State squandered an 18-12 lead as Santa Clara finished the game on an 18-11 run. The Broncos took just their third lead of the game at 27-26 after a kill from Megan Pura. SCU never trailed the rest of the way as both teams exchanged points until a kill from Toni Muratore and a Sacramento State set error ended the game at 30-28. Toni Muratore led all players in the game with five kills as Santa Clara won the game despite hitting just .102.

In game four, the Hornets went on a 3-0 run to take an 11-9 lead as the team never trailed the rest of the way. Sacramento State never led by anything more than four points during the entire frame as an emphatic Bandimere kill ended the game at 30-27.

In the fifth and deciding game, Santa Clara controlled throughout, scoring 10 of the first 14 points. The Hornets got within, 11-8, after back-to-back aces from junior Shannon Arts, but could get no closer the rest of the way.

Sacramento State returns to action this Friday-Saturday, Sept. 3-4, as the team takes part in the two-day, three-match Nanook Volleyball Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska. The Hornets will face UMKC on Friday at 7 p.m. PST before taking on Colgate (2 p.m. PST) and host Alaska Fairbanks (9 p.m. PST) on Saturday. The tournament will serve as a homecoming for Arts, who prepped at Alaska’s Valdez High School.

NOTES -- Sacramento State has not defeated Santa Clara since Broncos’ head coach Jon Wallace took over the program in 1999. Prior to the 1999 season, the Hornets had defeated Santa Clara six-consecutive times spanning five years...junior Natalie Melcher played and started her first match since 2002 as the Redlands, Calif., native redshirted during the 2003 season...Hubbard started in place of the injured Jennifer Ferguson (back)...freshman Lindsay Haupt saw the first action of her intercollegiate career as she was inserted into the match during the fourth game.