Nov. 17, 2011

Box Score

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SAN DIEGO, Calif. -Behind a balanced offensive attack, the 20th-ranked University of San Diego women's volleyball team cruised its way to a 3-0 West Coast Conference win over Santa Clara University Thursday evening at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

With the 25-17, 25-23, 25-21 win, the Toreros improve to 27-3 overall, move to 12-3 in the WCC and run their winning streak to five. With Pepperdine defeating San Francisco this evening, USD is now out of the running for the WCC championship, and will finish in sole possession of second place in the WCC. With the loss, the Broncos fall to 11-15 overall and 6-9 in the WCC.

Shelby Staab led the Toreros offense as the junior middle blocker recorded nine kills, hit for a .389 clip and had three blocks. Chloe Ferrari also had a good offensive night, as she finished with eight kills, had two blocks and hit for a .316 clip. Rachel Alvey recorded 21 assists and had nine digs, while helping steer the USD offense to a .210 team attack percentage. Both Jianna Bonomi and Kandiss Andersonfinished with nine digs apiece.

In the first set, the Toreros grabbed the first three points, but the Broncos quickly answered back wit three points of their own. The two teams then sea sawed back and forth a bit over the next volleys, before a SCU attack error sparked a 5-2 San Diego run to give USD the momentum and a 14-10 lead. Then a Staab kill sparked a 6-3 USD run that was capped on a SCU attack error to give USD all the momentum and a 20-13 lead. USD never looked back as they cruised their way to a 25-17 win.

In the second set, it was a close battle right out of the gates. This frame featured 11 ties and had five lead changes. With the Broncos leading 13-12, a Ferrari kill off a set from Alvey sparked a 4-0 San Diego run to give USD a 16-13 lead, forcing the Broncos into a timeout. Out of the break in action, SCU managed to put together a 6-3 run to knot the score up at 19-all. SCU and USD would then begin to trade point-for-point until the score was knotted at 23-all, then a block assist by Sandra Lozic and Katie Hoekman, followed by a SCU attack error gave USD the win and sent the Toreros into the break up two-sets-to-none.

In the third and final set, the Broncos raced out to a 5-3 lead to grab the early momentum. San Diego then began to slowly chip away at the lead before coming back to tie things up at 12-all on block assist by Ferrari and Staab. The Toreros then put together a 4-1 run to grab some breathing room and take a 17-13 lead. SCU would eventually pull back to within one at 20-19, but the Toreros proved to be too strong to overcome, as they closed out the frame on a 5-2 run to complete the sweep.

San Diego will return to action on Saturday as they conclude the regular-season with a 1 p.m. showdown against No. 18 Pepperdine University inside the friendly confines of the Jenny Craig Pavilion.