Oct. 1, 2011

Box Score

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Behind a match-high 15-kill performance from junior outside hitter Amber Tatsch, the 18th-ranked University of San Diego women's volleyball team steam rolled past Brigham Young University, 3-0, Saturday afternoon in a West Coast Conference match at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

With the 25-16, 25-16, 25-23 win, the Toreros improve to 16-1 overall, move to 2-1 in the WCC and run their winning streak to three. With the loss, the Cougars fall to 13-4 overall, 2-1 in the WCC, and they saw their three-match winning streak snapped.

Tatsch led all players with her 15 kills on 25 swings to post a .346 attack percentage. Sandra Lozic also had a good match, as she recorded nine kills and had six digs, while Chloe Ferrari added in with eight kills and Carrie Baird had seven kills. Both Rachel Alvey and Jianna Bonomi had 20 assists apiece in helping steer the USD offense to a .361 team attack percentage. Kandiss Anderson led the San Diego defense with 16 digs.

In the first set, the Cougars managed to stay close with the Toreros in the early going. Then with the score knotted at 5-5, a Ferrari kill ignited an 8-3 San Diego run that was bookended on a BYU attack error to give USD all the momentum and a 13-8 advantage. The Toreros then kept the pedal to the medal and went on to cruise its way to a 25-16 win.

In the second frame, it was more of the same, as San Diego came out firing on all cylinders with a 9-3 run, which forced the Cougars into a timeout. Out of the break, BYU managed to grab the next two points, however a Tatsch kill off a set from Alvey sparked an 8-4 Torero run to give USD a comfortable 17-9 lead, which again forced BYU into a timeout. The Cougars could not recover, as USD eased its way to a 25-16 win to go into the break up 2-0.

In the third and final set, the Cougars made things interesting, as they were able to hang with the Toreros point-for-point throughout a majority of the frame. This set featured 12 ties and six different lead changes. Finally late in the set with the score knotted at 22-all, a Katie Hoekman kill ignited a 3-1 run to close things out and complete the sweep for the Toreros with a 25-23 win.

USD will return to action on Thursday as they host the University of Portland in a 7 p.m. WCC match at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.