SAN DIEGO — Led by 14 kills from senior
Katie Lukes and 11 from junior
Grace Frohling, No. 19 San Diego volleyball (19-4, 13-1 WCC) rolled to its fifth straight win, taking down Loyola Marymount (15-9, 6-8 WCC) in straight sets on Thursday night as it continued West Coast Conference play in the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
The Toreros beat the Lions 25-19 in the first set, won a close 25-21 decision in the second, then prevailed by a 25-11 margin in the third to secure the sweep.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set - (San Diego, 25-19)
- Senior libero Annie Benbow went full extension for a clutch dig, then Lukes hammered a kill home to tie the match at one.
- Benbow then notched her 13th service ace of the season to put San Diego up 2-1.
- The set remained back-and-forth until it reached an 11-11 tie, then an error by the Lions and a combo block from Frohling and freshman Haylee Stoner pushed the Toreros in front by a 13-11 margin.
- Lukes slammed a kill to make it 18-12, then Frohling pushed the USD lead to seven with a kill of her own.
- Frohling notched her 31st service ace of the season to make it 23-14 in favor of the home team, then a kill from Frohling and a block assist from sophomores Kylie Pries and Leyla Blackwell secured the first set for the Toreros, 25-19.
Second Set - (San Diego, 25-21)
- Lukes hammered her eighth kill of the evening to push USD ahead 4-3 after a back-and-forth battle early on.
- A big rally several points later was punctuated by a kill from Blackwell, moving the score to 9-3 in favor of the Toreros.
- Pries, who had missed nearly a month with an injury, made it 13-5 a few points later, announcing her return with emphasis with a booming kill.
- Frohling had another kill to move the score to 15-6, then a kill from Stoner made it 16-7.
- A kill from redshirt sophomore setter Isadora Terçariol pushed the San Diego advantage to 19-10, then Frohling maintained it with a kill of her own to make it 20-11.
- LMU rallied back to make it as close as 23-20, but kills from Pries and Frohling wrapped up the second set for the Toreros by a score of 25-21 to push them ahead 2-0 in the match.
Third Set - (San Diego, 25-11)
- USD jumped out to an early lead with kills from Lukes and Frohling before the Lions quickly tied it.
- Another kill from Lukes, plus an ace from Frohling and a block from Terçariol earned the Toreros a 6-3 lead, then LMU again cut into the San Diego advantage, making it 7-5.
- A kill from Stoner set off a seven-point USD run, pushing the score to 15-6 before the Lions answered.
- A kill and a block assist from Lukes, a service ace from Benbow, and a block assist from Frohling and Blackwell made it 21-8, then a kill from Blackwell and a service ace from Lukes ended it, earning the Toreros a 25-11 win in the set, and a 3-0 sweep in the match.
TORERO TIDBITS
- Frohling led the way for USD with six total blocks, and Stoner set a career high with five.
- Blackwell had three blocks, including one solo, Pries had two, and Terçariol (solo) and Lukes (block assist) had one apiece.
- Benbow led USD and the match with 12 digs, and Terçariol recorded a match-high 29 assists.
- The sweep marks the Toreros' 11th of 2021, and their 10th of 13 WCC matches.
UP NEXT
USD is back home on Saturday as it takes on Pepperdine. First serve is set for 12 pm.
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