Box Score

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- The University of San Diego women's volleyball team opened up West Coast Conference play with a bang, downing Santa Clara University, 3-1, Thursday evening at the Leavy Center.

With the 13-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-17 win, the Toreros improve to 7-5 overall and move to 1-0 in the WCC. With the loss, the Broncos fall to 9-4 overall and 0-1 in the WCC.

Lisa Kramer paced the USD offense with a match-best 17 kills, while also recording seven digs and adding in one block. Canace Finley was the second Torero in double digit kills, as she had 14 on 31 swings, while hitting for a .258 clip, and she had four blocks. Addie Picha saw her fist action of the season and led the team with seven blocks, while Jayden Kennedy chipped in with eight kills. Kristen Gengenbacher recorded a career-high 40 assists in helping steer the USD offense to a .234 team attack percentage, and Hunter Jennings led the team with 16 digs, while Ryann Powell added in 13 more digs.

USD recorded 10.0 blocks, while the home team had 12.0 blocks, and USD managed to hold the Broncos to a .240 team attack percentage.

For Santa Clara, Nikki Hess led the way, as she matched Kramer's 17 kills, while hitting .220, and the only other SCU player with double digit kills was Jensen Cunningham, who had 12 in 18 attempts, while only committing two errors to hit for a .556 clip. Kristen Mead recorded a match-best 43 assists, while Danielle Rottman paced the defense with 18 digs.

After a dismal first frame that saw USD hit .111 as a team, the Toreros rebounded with a .345 hitting percentage in the second set. Things were close for the first half of the frame, then with USD leading 12-11, a Gengenbacher kill sparked a 5-2 San Diego run that gave USD all the momentum and a 17-13 lead. USD never looked back, as they cruised their way to a 25-18 win, evening up the match at one set each.

In the third set, USD was even with the Broncos until late in the set. With the frame all evened up at 16-16, a Hess attack error gave USD its first lead of the set. A lead USD would not surrender. The Broncos were within one at 21-20, but a Finely kill then sparked a 4-0 Torero run to close things out, and gave USD a 2-1 lead.

In the fourth and final frame, USD once again hit over .300, and it proved to be too much for the Broncos to hang with, as SCU hit for a .152 clip in this frame. USD raced out to a 10-4 lead, and never looked back, as they eased their way to a 25-18 win, to complete the come-from-behind win.

The Toreros will return to action on Saturday, as they look to complete a rare Bay Area sweep, with a 12 p.m. WCC match against the University of San Francisco.