Sept. 5, 2008
Box Score
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Jaimarie Sutherland and Amy Mahinalani DeGroot each had 13 kills to help propel the 21st-ranked University of San Diego women's volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-22) win over Hofstra in the opening game of the Holiday Inn LA City Center Trojan Invitational Friday morning.
With the win, the Toreros have won four consecutive matches and improve to 4-0. With the loss, the Pride fall to 2-2 overall.
DeGroot added in 10 digs to go along with her 13 kills to post her second double-double of the season, while also hitting for a .370 clip. Sutherland continued her hot start to the season as she had 13 kills on 26 attempts to post a .308 attack percentage. Senior setter Jessica Nyrop had a match-best 26 assists, while helping direct the San Diego offense to a .277 team attack percentage and junior libero Andrea Csaszi recorded a match-best 16 digs.
In the first set, the early part of the set was evenly played with both teams taking their turn with the lead and neither team having a lead bigger than two. Then with the score at 7-6 in favor of the Toreros, a Nyrop kill ignited a 9-3 San Diego run that capped off on a Ashton Basch kill off a set from Nyrop to give the Toreros a comfortable 16-9 lead. San Diego never looked back as they cruised their way to a 25-15 win.
In the second set, the Pride was able to keep things closer as USD never had a lead bigger than two throughout a majority of the set. Then with the set knotted at 15-15, a Basch kill off a set from Nyrop sparked the San Diego offense into a 10-4 run that was capped off on a Torey Ellick kill to close out the set and give the Toreros a 2-0 advantage in the match going into the break.
In the third and final set, San Diego grabbed the early momentum as they jumped out to a 15-5 lead that was capped on a Ellick kill off a set from Kelsi Myers. But Hofstra refused to go away, as they began to claw their way back into the set as they went on a 10-5 run sparked on a Lauren Engle kill and capped on a Monica Knight kill to pull back to within five at 20-15. The Pride got back to within one at 21-20 on a Engle kill, but San Diego proved to be too strong as they avoided the comeback and claimed a hard fought 25-22 win to complete the sweep.
The Toreros will return to action later this evening with a 5 p.m. match against the University of Oklahoma.
