SAN DIEGO – Roxie Wiblin led No. 16 San Diego with 17 kills but it was not enough as the Toreros dropped a, 3-1, decision against Tennessee on Saturday night at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
Wiblin was one of three USD (2-4) players to reach double-digits in kills, along with
Addie Picha (11) and
Kaity Edwards (10).
The Lady Vols (7-2) had a strong night at the net, however, racking up 13 blocks and slowing down the Toreros attack. The Lady Vols' Breana Jeter had her hand in a match-high seven blocks, while Addisyn Rowe had six.
Tennessee was streaky in its scoring and rattled off multiple lengthy runs to create separation from the Toreros in multiple sets. Raquel Perinar led the Lady Vols with 15 kills, followed by Tessa Grubbs (14) and Erica Treiber (11). Tennessee hit .283 on the night, while the Toreros hit .222.
Picha and Edwards continued their consistency offensively, hitting .625 and .600, respectively.
Laura Madill led USD with 25 assists and
Anna Newsome contributed 24.
Picha led the Toreros with four blocks and freshman,
Kelli Barry, notched a team-high 16 digs.
The Toreros jumped out to an, 11-6, lead in the first set. Tennessee eventually closed the gap to 13-12 before USD went on another big run to make it, 23-15. The Lady Vols responded with a 7-1 run to cut the Toreros lead to 24-22 but a service error by Tennessee sealed the first set win for USD, 25-22.
Tennessee jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the second set but the Toreros answered with a 5-0 run to retake the lead, 7-5. With USD holding a 13-5 lead, Tennessee reeled off an 11-3 run to take a commanding, 24-18, lead. A kill by Jeter gave the Lady Vols the second set, 25-20, and leveled the match at, 1-1.
USD took a 5-4 lead in the third, but Tennessee went on a 5-1 run to go up, 9-6. The Toreros won the next three points to level the set at, 9-9, before the Lady Vols went on another stretch, this time a 7-1 run, to take a 16-10 advantage.
The Torero scored five straight points soon after to cut its deficit to 18-7 but that was the closest they would get as the Lady Vols sealed the third set, 25-22.
USD came out firing in the fourth set and took an early 9-5 lead. However, Tennessee chipped away and closed the match on a 12-4 run to win, 25-22, and win the match, 3-1.
The Toreros will look to bounce back next weekend when it co-hosts the USD/SDSU Challenge and plays host to No. 10 USC, Louisiana and Oregon State.
