Sept. 13, 2008

Box Score

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Four different Toreros recorded double-digit kills in a balanced offensive attack to help lead the 20th-ranked University of San Diego women's volleyball team to a thrilling 3-0 (26-24, 25-22, 25-19) win over Texas A&M University in the final game of the USD Tournament.

With the win, the Toreros improve to 7-1 on the season, have won three consecutive matches and claimed the championship of the USD Tournament. With the loss, the Aggies fall to 5-5 overall.

Amy Mahinalani DeGroot and Ashton Basch led that team with a match-best 12 kills apiece with Basch posting an impressive .800 attack percentage, which is the third best single-match attack percentage in USD history. Jaimarie Sutherland recorded 11 kills and Ali Troost was the final Torero in double-digit kills with 10. Jessica Nyrop recorded a match-best 44 assists and added in 12 digs for her second double-double of the season. Andrea Csaszi led the team with a match-best 13 digs and Breanne Ogden also recorded 12 digs in the match.

The first set was a dog fight, with each team taking their turn with the lead. Then with the score knotted at 7-7, the Aggies went on a 7-1 run that was sparked on a USD attack error and capped on a Mary Batis kill. But a Kill from DeGroot off a set from Nyrop ignited an 8-3 San Diego run to pull the Torero back to within two at 18-16.

The two teams then sea sawed back and forth a bit until the Toreros were able to knot the score up at 20-20 on a DeGroot kill off a Nyrop set. Then with the score tied at 23-23, USD would have match point come after a Basch kill, but the Aggies would then score two points to tie things up at 24-24. Kills by Troost and Nyrop then sealed the deal for the Toreros and allowed USD to record the 26-24 win.

In the second set, the Aggies and Toreros would again be locked in a close battle as each team took their turn with the lead, but neither team had a lead bigger than two. Texas A&M made the Toreros work all set long, and finally with the set tied at 22-22, a DeGroot kill, followed by a Texas A&M attack error and a Nyrop dump gave the Toreros the 2-0 advantage going into the break.

Finally in the third set, the Toreros were able to have a little easier time as they grabbed grabbed the early lead at 3-2 on a Basch kill and never let the lead go. Although the Aggies kept things close, not allowing USD to get more that a few points a head, San Diego was able to finally break loose on a 6-2 run midway through the set to give them a 16-11 lead. San Diego never looked back as they would go on to complete the clean sweep of the Aggies with a 25-19 win.

The Toreros will return to action on Tuesday as they host UC Riverside in a 6 p.m. non-conference match at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAMAmy Mahinalani DeGroot (San Diego) - Tournament MVPJessica Nyrop (San Diego)Erin Saddler (Cal State Fullerton)Sarah Ammerman (Texas A&M)Genie Francisco (Cal State Fullerton)Sarah Bowdn (Southern Miss)Sarah Edmond (Cal State Fullerton)