SAN DIEGO—No. 20 San Diego clinched a share of the 2019 West Coast Conference Championship with a 3-0 sweep of Portland on Saturday in the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
 
On a day dedicated to the seniors, the Toreros (23-5, 16-1 WCC) earned their 16th sweep of the season and extended an eight-match win streak, topping the Pilots (11-17, 3-14 WCC), 25-11, 25-18, 25-11.
 
Prior to the match, USD honored its four graduating seniors, Payton Douglass, Megan Jacobsen, Anna Newsome and Megan Priest.
 
Katie Lukes dominated for the Toreros, collecting a match-high 15 kills on 10 errorless swings to hit at a blazing .750 clip. Grace Frohling also reached double-digits with 11 kills on the night, while Jacobsen added nine kills and hitting .571.
 
Anna Newsome directed the offense to a .551 hitting percentage, collecting 30 assists. Newsome also added two aces from the service line.
 
Thana Fayad led the Toreros defensively with two blocks, including two solo stops, while Lukes, Hannah Patrick and Cami May collected two blocks each. Annie Benbow tallied 10 digs in the back court, adding eight assists for USD.
 
USD got off to a hot start, led by Frohling and Lukes who registered five and four kills respectively in the first set. The Toreros hit .542 to take the first set handily.
 
The Pilots took an early 12-9 lead in the second set before the Toreros took control with a 13-2 run led by Lukes with four kills. Portland battled down the stretch but USD closed out the set to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The Toreros were near-perfect in the final frame, collecting 17 kills on 27 errorless swings to hit at a .630 clip. USD committed just three hitting errors in the match.
 
This marks the fifth title in the past 10 seasons for San Diego and 11th in program history, which ties the Toreros with Pepperdine for most conference championships all-time in the WCC. 
 
The victory also earns USD the conference's automatic bid to the 2019 NCAA Tournament. It is the Toreros' 10th straight postseason trip and 22nd in the last 24 seasons.
 
San Diego will close out the regular season against Loyola Marymount on Tuesday at 6 p.m. PT in the JCP. USD can claim the WCC title outright with a win over the Lions. It would mark the first outright championship for the Toreros since 2013.