Nov. 13, 2008

Box Score

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Three Toreros recorded double-digit kills, paced by Ali Troost's match-best 17, but it wasn't enough as the 13th-ranked University of San Diego women's volleyball team was upset by Saint Mary's College, 3-1, Thursday evening in a West Coast Conference match at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

With the 22-25, 14-25, 25-21, 21-25 loss, the Toreros fall to 19-4 overall, saw their seven-match winning streak come to an end and are now tied for first place in the WCC at 9-2. With the win, the Gaels improve to 19-6 overall and move to 9-3 in the WCC.

Troost recorded her 17 kills on 38 attempts, while committing seven attack errors to post a .263 attack percentage. Amy Mahinalani DeGroot was the second USD player in double digit kills with 13 and Torey Ellick recorded 10 kills. Jessica Nyrop recorded a match-best 46 assists and Andrea Csaszi recorded 19 digs in the match.

In the first set, the early going was a close battle as both teams ha their turn with the lead and neither team had a lead bigger than three. Than with the Toreros leading 18-15, the Gaels called a timeout,and out of the timeout SMC went on a 10-4 run to close out the set and take a 25-22 win.

In the second set, SMC was able to take advantage of several USD miscues and jumped out to a 10-4 lead. USD then went on a 5-2 run that was sparked on a SMC service error and capped on a Gaels attack error to pull the Toreros back to within three at 12-9. The Gaels then put together a 7-2 run to take complete control of the momentum and went on to claim set two 25-14.

San Diego then came out of the break in set three and refused to be swept on their home court. A Csaszi Service ace began the set and a 5-1 San Diego run that was capped on a Nyrop solo block. The Gaels then began to chip away at USD's lead and eventually tied things up at 18-18. A Gaels service error then sparked a 6-3 USD run to close out the set an give USD a 25-21 win.

In the fourth set, the two team sea sawed back and forth in the early going with the Gaels never surrendering the lead. Then with the score knotted at 4-4, a SMC kill sparked a 6-1 run that gave the Gaels momentum and some breathing room. San Diego began to chip away at the lead and pulled back to within two at 17-15 on a Troost kill off a set from Csaszi, but the Gaels then went on a 4-0 run to regain the momentum and take a 21-15 lead. SMC never looked back as they won the match with a 25-21 win.

The Toreros will return to action on Saturday as they host No. 21 Santa Clara in a 1 p.m. WCC match at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.