Sept. 12, 2008

Box Score

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The 20th-ranked University of San Diego volleyball team cruised its way to a 3-0 (25-19, 25-13, 25-12) win over Cal State Fullerton in their opening game of the USD Tournament Friday evening at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

Amy Mahinalani DeGroot led all players with her 10 kills on 24 attempts, while only committing two errors to post a .333 attack percentage. DeGroot also recorded eight digs. Jaimarie Sutherland tallied seven kills and both Torey Ellick and Ali Troost had six kills apiece. Jessica Nyrop recorded a match-best 29 assists in helping direct the San Diego offense to a .296 attack percentage. Andrea Csaszi led the team with 12 digs.

In set one, the Titans kept things close in the early going, but with the score knotted up at 7-7, an Ellick kill off a Nyrop set ignited a 6-3 run that was capped off on an Ashton Basch kill off a set from Ellick to give USD a 13-9 advantage. Fullerton didn't let the Toreros gain to much ground as they pulled back to within three at 22-19, but San Diego closed out the set on a 3-0 run to give them the 25-19 win.

In set two, the Toreros wasted no time as they jumped out to a 4-1 lead that was sparked on a Fullerton attack error and capped on a DeGroot kill off a set from Nyrop. The Titans then pulled even with the Toreros at 4-4 on a USD attack error, but San Diego then used a 8-3 run that was ignited on a Fullerton service error and capped on a Basch service ace to give USD a 12-7 lead, and San Diego never looked back as they cruised to a 25-13 win.

Set three was all Toreros, as with the score tied at 4-4, a Ali Troost kill sparked a 9-4 Torero run, giving USD a 13-8 lead. San Diego kept the pedal to the medal and closed out the match with a 12-4 run to give the Toreros the clean sweep over the Titans.

San Diego will return to action on Saturday morning with a 10 a.m. match against Southern Mississippi.