STOCKTON, Calif. - The Pacific volleyball team will wrap up the 2021 regular season on Tuesday against Santa Clara. The Tigers are coming off its second win over a nationally-ranked team for the first time since 2009 and just the second win in program history over No. 23 San Diego on Saturday. Prior to the match, Pacific will honor its senior student-athletes – Lucy Carpenter, Kennedy Kaminsky, Illyria Kalaj, Gabby Leo, Riley Ramsey, Shahrzad Sadeghi and Jadyn Tubbs.



MATCH DETAILS:
Teams:  Santa Clara (11-15, 7-9 WCC) at Pacific (13-15, 10-7 WCC) 
Date: Tuesday, Nov. 23
Time: 7 p.m. (PT)
Location: Stockton, Calif. | Alex G. Spanos Center
Live Stats: https://pacifictigers.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Live Video: https://wccsports.com/watch
 
Santa Clara Quick Facts
• Location: Santa Clara, Calif.
• Nickname: Broncos
• Head Coach: Erin Lindsey
 
Last Time Out
After a strong performance on Thursday against #4 BYU, the Pacific volleyball team built off its momentum en route to a 25-21, 25-22, 18-25, 25-20 win over #23 San Diego on Saturday, Nov. 20. The Tigers served up 10 service aces and hit .184 in the win as Pacific picked up its second win over a ranked team on the season for the first time since 2009. The win over the Toreros is the first by Pacific since the first meeting between the two teams in 1976.
 
Previous Meeting
The Tigers fell to host Santa Clara in four as the Broncos were victorious - 25-20, 20-25, 25-14, 25-18 on October 21. The Tigers were led by a pair of double double performances from Darina Kumanova with 12 digs and 10 kills and Jenna Heller, who had 15 assists and 10 digs. The service game for Pacific recorded five aces as the Pacific hitting efforts posted a .144 hitting percentage in the loss.
 
NCAA Rankings
Alexa Edwards
 - Attacks per set (66th, 10.83) 
 - Total attacks (62nd, 1,116) 
 - Kills per set (97th, 3.71)
 - Total kills (90th, 382)
 
Jenna Heller 
 - Aces per set (85th, 0.38)
 - Service aces (82nd, 38)
 
Darina Kumanova
 - Service aces (129th, 35)
 
Jadyn Tubbs
- Digs per set (99th, 4.40) 
- Total digs (86th, 453) 
 
Seeing Double 
Freshman Jenna Heller leads the Tigers with 12 double double performances; plus, sophomore Alexa Edwards has had 10.
 
Ace
Senior Jadyn Tubbs has served up a service ace in 10 of the last 12 matches for the Tigers. She had two service aces in the previous meeting with San Diego.
 
Bring the Hammer
The Tigers posted a .380 hitting percentage against Gonzaga on Oct. 28 – the highest by a Pacific squad since Aug. 30, 2019, against Montana and its highest against a conference team since a .402 clip against Portland on Nov. 10, 2018. Earlier this season, in the five-set win over Pepperdine (Oct. 7), the Tigers put down a season-high 67 kills. The 67 kills are the most since a 71-kill effort against Santa Clara on Feb. 23, 2021. 
 
One-Two Set Punch
Setters Jenna Heller and Gabby Leo have provided a solid one-two punch from the setter position. Against WCC foes, Heller has 296 assists (5.19), and Leo has 268 (5.06) assists, respectively. Leo had 30 assists against San Diego on Saturday for her second highest total on the season. For the season, Heller has 570 assists and Leo has 428. The Tigers are second in the conference with 1,178 assists. 
 
Kumanova Earns Weekly Honor from AVSR
Sophomore Darina Kumanova was named the AVSR Global Player of the Week for her efforts. Kumanova was instrumental in the Tigers' win over nationally-ranked Pepperdine and a heartbreaking five-set loss to Loyola Marymount. In the win over Pepperdine, she had a double double with 12 kills and 13 digs. She delivered the game-winning kill against the Waves in the fifth and deciding set. Against Loyola Marymount, Kumanova posted 13 kills and eight digs in the loss. Past Pacific honorees include Svenja Engelhardt in 2010 en route to being named the AVSR Player of the Year. Engelhardt was a three-time honoree and former Tiger Natalia Tomaszewska received recognition in 2008.
 
Single Digits
Pacific had just eight hitting errors to go along with 31 kills in the straight-set win over Portland (Sept. 30). The last time that Pacific had single-digit hitting errors was in a nine-error effort against Portland (Nov. 10, 2018). Pacific has had single-digit hitting errors on three occasions since 2015. The last time that they had eight was against Little Rock on August 29, 2014.
 
Block Party
The Tigers are averaging 1.6 blocks per set including a season-high 12 blocks in the five-set loss to Cal (Sept. 4). The 12 blocks are the most by a Pacific team since a 12 block effort at Portland on October 10, 2019. Kennedy Kaminsky and Alexa Edwards share the team lead with 15 block solos. In 11 matches, most recently against LMU, the Tigers have recorded double-figure block assists. Pacific recorded a season-high 18 against CSUN (Sept. 11). The 18 were the most since a 22-block assist effort against Pepperdine on Nov. 3, 2018.
 
Home Sweet Home
With the win over USF on Sept. 28, the Tigers have won eight of its last nine conference home openers. Plus, Pacific has now won nine of its last ten meetings at home against the University of San Francisco. The lone blemish came last spring on Feb. 9, 2021. 
 
All-Tournament Honors
• Ramonni Cook (Elk Grove, Calif.) was named to the Sacramento State All-Tournament Team. Cook averaged 2.67 kills per set and a .197 hitting percentage, plus she also averaged 0.67 blocks. In the Tigers' four-set win over CSUN, she had 10 kills en route to a .304 hitting percentage to go along with four blocks. The night before in a five-set loss to Sacramento State, she had 13 kills and three blocks.
• Alexa Edwards (Sacramento, Calif.), Darina Kumanova (Sofia, Bulgaria) and Jadyn Tubbs (Turlock, Calif.) were named to the Pacific Community Classic All-Tournament Team. Edwards, a sophomore outside hitter from Sacramento, had 50 kills and a .252 hitting percentage to go along with six blocks in the three matches to lead Pacific. She recorded a season-high 21 kills in the five-set loss to Cal. She started the tournament with an 18-kill performance in the straight-set win over Tarleton State.
 
Kumanova, a sophomore outside hitter from Sofia, Bulgaria, has made an immediate impact after transferring in from UMBC. She had 31 kills and a .194 hitting percentage and a team-best 10 service aces. Kumanova had five service aces in the straight-set win over UC San Diego.
 
Tubbs, a senior libero from Turlock, had a team-best 56 digs and five service aces in the three matches. All five of her service aces came in the straight-set win over Tarleton State.
 
Serving Up Aces
Pacific has had double-digit service aces in five matches, most recently against San Diego (Nov. 20). The 12 aces are the most by a Pacific squad since they also had 12 aces against Alabama State on Sept. 7, 2018. Of note, Pacific had 13 service aces against the University of San Francisco on October 21, 2017.
 
Family Tree
Alexa Edwards (Sacramento, Calif.), Jenna Heller (Gilbert, Ariz.) and Sammie Sublett (Ramona, Calif.) are second generation members of the Tigers. Cathy Lumb-Edwards, the mother of Alexa Edwards,  played for the Tigers from 1980-83 and served as a graduate assistant for Pacific's 1986 national championship team. Heller is the third member of her family to attend Pacific, as her father DJ (1989-90) played baseball while her mother Melanie Beckenhauer-Heller (1988-91) was a two-time All-American on the volleyball team. Sublett's mother, Leona Bielefeld-Sublett (1985-88), was a player on both of the Tigers' 1985 and 1986 national championship teams.
 
Classroom Success
The Tigers' Gabby Leo was named to the West Coast Conference All-Academic Team for a second-straight year for her efforts in the classroom. At the conclusion of each athletic season, the WCC selects an all-academic squad for each WCC-sponsored sport. To be considered, a student-athlete must maintain at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average, while also being a significant contributor to her team.