LOS ANGELES — No. 22 San Diego volleyball fell into a 2-0 hole early but stormed back to take the match on Saturday at Loyola Marymount, rallying for three straight set wins to earn a 3-2 comeback victory at the Gersten Pavilion.

Junior outside hitter Grace Frohling led the charge for the Toreros, setting a career high in kills for the second straight match with 24. Senior outside hitter Katie Lukes wasn't too far behind, tying her career high in kills of 21 (which she set on Thursday at No. 24 Pepperdine). Sophomore middle blocker Leyla Blackwell had nine total blocks (six solo), senior libero Annie Benbow posted 14 digs, and setter Isadora Terçariol racked up 42 assists.


HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST SET - (LOYOLA MARYMOUNT, 25-20)

• Both teams traded points before Blackwell tied things up at eight with her first kill of the afternoon.
• Frohling gave USD a one-point lead with a kill to make it 12-11 in favor of the Toreros
• LMU pulled away in the later stages of the set, prevailing by a 25-20 margin to take a 1-0 lead in the match.

SECOND SET - (LOYOLA MARYMOUNT, 25-23)

• San Diego fell behind early but battled back when Frohling hammered a kill to cut the LMU lead to 6-3.
• An Annie Benbow ace brought the Toreros to within two at 10-8 LMU, then a Frohling kill later in the set cut the Lions' lead to one point at 21-20, but USD would get no closer, falling in the set 25-23 despite another clutch last-chance kill from Frohling.

THIRD SET - (SAN DIEGO, 25-16)

• Elly Schraeder entered at the beginning of the set and made an instant impact, placing a kill over the net to put USD out to a 1-0 lead.
• After a back-and-forth battle early on, a kill from Blackwell made it an 8-7 game in favor of USD.
• Freshman outside hitter Emily Wilson expanded the USD lead to three points with a kill, making the score 12-9.
• Several points later, the freshman capped a 5-0 scoring run from the Toreros with another kill, a stretch that moved the score to 17-10 in the frame and forced a Lions timeout.

FOURTH SET - (SAN DIEGO, 25-23)

• Lukes got the Toreros off to a hot start by pulverizing her 10th kill of the afternoon, then added an ace to make it 7-4 in favor of USD.
• The Toreros fell behind in the set's middle stages, but a block from Blackwell pulled USD back within one.
• She'd be a factor on offense in the set as well, pushing USD ahead by an 18-17 margin with a kill.
• Lukes tied it at three with another kill, then a kill from Frohling and a block from Blackwell earned USD a 25-23 win in the set to bring the match score to 2-2.

FIFTH SET - (SAN DIEGO, 15-13)

• Another closely contested set was back-and-forth early, then Lukes notched a clutch kill to make it 6-4 USD.
• Elly Schraeder smashed a kill to make it a two-point, 12-10 USD lead, then three attack errors by the Lions sealed a 15-13 San Diego win in the set, and a 3-2 win in the match.

TORERO TIDBITS
Frohling set a career high in kills for the second straight match, one-upping the 21-kill performance she set forth on Thursday at No. 24 Pepperdine with 24 on Saturday afternoon.

Her record previous to this week was 19.

Lukes and Frohling have been a dynamic duo over the last week, teaming up for a combined 86 kills across both the Toreros' games this week.

UP NEXT

The Toreros will travel to No. 8 BYU next time out, continuing conference play in Utah. First serve at the George Albert Smith Fieldhouse is set for 6 pm PST.