Nov. 1, 2014

Box Score

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The University of San Diego women's volleyball team battled hard, but came up short in a stunning 3-2 loss to Santa Clara University Saturday afternoon in a West Coast Conference match at the Leavy Center.

With the 25-20, 19-25, 27-25, 12-25, 12-15 loss, the Toreros fall to 15-9 overall, and move to 8-4 in the WCC. With the win, the Broncos improve to 18-7 overall and 8-4 in the WCC.

Alaysia Brown paced the USD offense with 18 kills, while hitting for a .268 clip. The second Torero in double digit kills was Lisa Kramer, who had 12, and recorded five total blocks. Canace Finley was the last Torero in double digit kills, as she had 10, while Kristen Gengenbacher (25 assists) and Jianna Bonomi (20 assists), helped steer the USD offense to a team attack percentage of .227. Hunter Jennings led the team's defense with 17 digs, while Bonomi had 16 to post a double-double.

In the first set, San Diego came out firing on all cylinders, as they raced out to a 10-3 lead, grabbing all the early momentum. The Broncos then chipped away at the lead, and pulled back to within one at 16-15, forcing the Toreros into a timeout. SCU would eventually pull even with USD at 18-all, but a Kramer kill sparked a 7-2 USD run to give the Toreros the first set 25-20.

Santa Clara then bounced back in set two to even up the match at 1-1 with a 25-19 win. This frame the polar opposite as the first, as the Broncos jumped out to a 10-3 lead, only to see USD battle back to within one at 15-14, forcing SCU into a timeout. However, this is as close USD would get, as SCU would hold off every USD run to claim the set win 25-20.

In the third set, it was an even battle all throughout. Both teams took their turn with the lead and neither team had a lead bigger than two. Then late in the frame with the score tied at 23-all, USD would take set point on a SCU attack error, which forced the Broncos into a timeout. The Broncos then evened things up at 24-all, and USD would take set point two more times, before a Merve Tanyel kill gave USD the 27-25 win.

The Broncos would then force a fifth and deciding set with a 25-12 win in set No. 4. Then in set five, USD grabbed the early momentum with a 4-0 run to open things up. SCU then responded with a 5-1 run to even the score up at 5-all. USD then went on a 3-1 run to take an 8-6 lead at the midway point of the frame. SCU then responded with a 3-0 run to take its first lead of the set. It was then point-for-point over the next few possessions, and with the score knotted at 11-all, the Broncos would catch a little fire and close things out on a 4-2 run, to claim the five-set thriller with a 15-12 win.

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