Oct. 6, 2011
Box Score
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Behind freshman outside hitter Sandra Lozic's match-best 12 kills, the 17th-ranked University of San Diego women's volleyball team cruised to a 3-0 win over the University of Portland Thursday evening in a West Coast Conference match at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
With the 25-18, 25-10, 25-21 win, the Toreros improve to 17-1 overall, improve to 3-1 in the WCC and have now won four straight matches. With the loss, the Pilots fall to 7-11 overall and 1-4 in the WCC.
Lozic recorded her 12 kills on 16 swings, while only committing one attack error to post an impressive .688 attack percentage. Chloe Ferrari recorded nine kills on 14 swings to post a .571 attack percentage, while Amber Tatsch also had nine kills and hit for a .444 clip. Jianna Bonomi recorded 21 assists and Rachel Alvey had 18 assists in helping steer the USD offense to a .447 team attack percentage. Kandiss Anderson led USD's defense with eight digs.
In the first set, Portland grabbed the first two points, but a Lozic kill then ignited a 10-4 Torero run that saw four different Toreros record a point, and gave San Diego a 10-4 lead advantage. USD would quickly push its lead up to five at 12-7, which forced the Pilots into a timeout. After the stop in action, the Toreros would not slow down, as they put together a 8-3 run to grab all the momentum and take a commanding 20-11 lead. USD then eased its way to a 25-18 win to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
In the second set, San Diego raced out to a 8-3 lead, as a Katie Hoekman kill jump started the offense and the run was bookended on a Portland attack error. The Toreros proved to be too much for the Pilots to handle in this frame, as a Pilot service error then ignited a 14-5 USD run, as the Toreros never looked back cruising their way to a 25-10 win.
In the third and final set, Portland made things interesting, as they managed to stand toe-to-toe with the defending WCC Champion Toreros throughout a majority of the frame. The final set featured 16 ties and four lead changes. Finally late in the set, with everything knotted up at 20-all, a Tatsch kill and Portland attack error forced the Pilots into a timeout and gave USD the momentum with a 22-20 lead. Out of the break, the Toreros would close things out with a 3-1 run to complete the sweep.
The Toreros will return to action on Saturday as they host Gonzaga University in a 12 p.m. WCC match inside the friendly confines of the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
