Sept. 18, 2010

Box Score

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Behind a pair of 20-kill performances from seniors Ashton Basch and Amy Mahinalani DeGroot, the 23rd-ranked University of San Diego women's volleyball team rallied back from a 2-0 deficit to claim a 3-2 (24-26, 23-25, 27-25, 25-18, 17-15) win over No. 12 University of Minnesota Saturday afternoon at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

After rallying back from a 2-0 deficit, the Toreros looked to its seniors in the fifth set to pull out the win. With the score at 3-3, a Ali Troost kill off a set from Myers ignited a 7-3 San Diego run that was caped on a Basch kill to give San Diego a 10-6 edge. Minnesota refused to go away, as they then went on a 6-2 run to pull back to within one at 12-11. San Diego would maintain the lead and take match point at 14-12 on a Chloe Ferrari kill, but the Golden Gophers answered right back with the next two points to take match point at 15-14. San Diego then dug in yet again and grabbed the next three points with a Ferrari kill followed by back-to-back Basch kills to lift the Toreros to victory.

With the win, the Toreros improve to 8-3 overall, have now won seven consecutive matches and they claimed the championship of the USD-SDSU Tournament. With the loss, the Golden Gophers fall to 10-2 overall.

Basch and Troost led all players with the 20 kills apiece, with DeGroot adding in 19 digs to post her fifth double-double of the season. Troost also had a huge night for USD as she had 18 kills, and racked up 15 digs to record her first double-double of the season. Ferrari was the fourth USD player to record double digit kills as she had 10 on 21 swings to post a .421 attack percentage. Kelsi Myers racked up a season-high 65 assists, while C'era Oliveira recorded a career-high 23 digs and Kandiss Anderson also had a career-high with 21 digs.

Troost was named the MVP of the tournament, and both DeGroot and Olivera were also named to the All-Tournamnt team. Roundng off the all-tourney team was Kyley Sexton (San Diego State), Stacey Schmidt (UC Santa Barbara), Ashley Wittman (Minnesota) and Ariana Filho (Minnesota).

In the first set, it was a sea saw battle back and forth over a majority of the set. Then with the score knotted at 15-15, a Ferrari kill off a set from Myers ignited a 4-0 USD run to give San Diego some breathing room. USD would go on to take a 21-16 lead, but that was short lived as the Golden Gophers then responded with a 5-0 run of their own to tie things up. USD would eventually take set-point at 24-23 on a Basch kill, but Minnesota then closed out the frame on a 3-0 run to go up 1-0.

In the second set, it was a back and forth affair, as both teams held each other in check, not allowing the opponent to take more than a two point edge. Then with the score at 24-21 in favor of the Golden Gophers, a DeGroot kill and a Basch kill gave San Diego hope of rallying back, but Minnesota was able to grab the final point they needed in the set to go into the break up two sets to none.

In the third set, San Diego came out a completely different team, as they took advantage of several Minnesota miscues, and were able to get right back into the match. The set was a sea saw battle with both teams taking their turn with the lead and neither team having a lead bigger than three. Then with the match tied at 22-22, a Golden Gopher service error and a Troost kill gave the Toreros set point. But Minnesota then bounced back and captured the next three points to take it to match-point at 25-24. However, the Toreros refused to go away, as they grabbed the next three points to force a fourth set.

In the fourth set, San Diego took control of the momentum right out of the gates as they raced out to a 6-1 lead, and never really looked back. Minnesota tried to put together a few runs, but it wasn't enough to overcome a determined Torero squad, who quickly built up a 8-point lead at 16-8. The Toreros kept the pedal to the medal and cruised their way to a 25-18 win, to force a fifth and deciding set.

The Toreros will return to action on Wednesday when they head up to Fullerton for a 6 p.m. non-conference match with the Titans of Cal State Fullerton.