Nov. 13, 2004
Box Score
(San Diego, CA) - No. 19 USD remained undefeated and atop the West Coast Conference standings after posting a four-game victory over visiting San Francisco Friday night at USD's Jenny Craig Pavilion. San Diego has now won 12 straight and can clinch its first WCC title since 1998 with a victory over #12 St. Mary's tomorrow night. The Toreros (18-4; 11-0 WCC) used a balanced attack to knock off San Francisco (11-17; 4-8 WCC) for the second time this season, with five Torero players reaching double-figures in kills. Game scores went (30-20, 26-30, 30-23 and 30-15).
The match started off with both teams trading blows, neither able to build more than a two-point lead early on in Game One. Trailing 7-6, San Diego senior Kristen Hurst was instrumental in giving her squad the necessary boost to put the Dons away. The opposite hitter blasted a kill to tie the game at 7-apiece and then her tough serving propelled USD to a 4-0 run that would put them up for good at 11-7. San Diego continued to score points at will, as attacking errors from USF mounted throughout the middle stages of the game. In addition, the offensive one-two punch of Hurst and sophomore middle blocker Emily Haas were too much for the Dons to overcome. Hurst and Haas each put away five kills to help San Diego to an easy 30-20 Game One victory.
As dominant as the Toreros were in the opening frame, the Dons turned the tables and built an early 8-3 advantage with great serving in Game Two. San Diego was unable to handle the flat, hard floaters that San Francisco served up and this early deficit proved to be too much to overcome. Despite USD middle blocker Christie Dawson hammering down 5 of her 10 kills, USF countered with outside hitters Stephanie Voelkers and Kristin Hasselberg, who teamed up for 12 kills to lead the visitors to the 30-26 Game Two win.
After the eight-minute intermission, the home team would not be denied, with Haas serving up six straight points. San Francisco threatened, closing the gap at 4-8, but the superb serving of junior libero Jackie Bernardin would push San Diego's lead back up to 12-5. However, the Dons showed resiliency, stringing together a run that would only leave them four points behind at 21-25. Any hopes of a comeback Game Three win for the visitors would be squashed by San Diego's seniors, as two kills by outside hitter Devon Forster and a block by Hurst put the Dons away 30-23.
There was no stopping San Diego in game-four, rolling to a 15-point victory to close out the match. USD reeled off eight consecutive points to assume a 15-6 lead, forcing USF to call its second of two timeouts in an attempt to curb the Toreros' momentum. The Dons would get no closer, giving ground to a San Diego team that was led by six Forster kills in game-four. Forster put down the final point, finishing with a match-high 19 kills to go along with nine digs.
