No. 23 San Diego (19-5, 13-2 WCC) • Saint Mary's (14-10, 8-7 WCC) • Pacific (12-14, 9-6 WCC)

Nov. 18  | University Credit Union Pavilion (3,500) • Moraga, California

Nov. 20  | Alex G. Spanos Center (6,150) • Stockton, California

Live Stream  •  WCC Network |  Live Statistics  • SMCGaels.com/PacificTigers.com

Social  •  Facebook.com/USDVolleyball  •  Twitter.com/USDVolleyball  •  Instagram.com/USDVolleyball

MORAGA, Calif. — No. 23 San Diego volleyball (19-5, 13-2 WCC) will embark on its final regular-season road trip of 2021 this week, traveling to Moraga and Stockton to take on Saint Mary's (14-10, 8-7 WCC) and Pacific (12-14, 9-6 WCC) as it continues West Coast Conference play.

The Toreros are set to face off with Saint Mary's on Thursday in a 7 pm matchup, then play Pacific on Saturday in a 12 pm contest. Both matches will be streamed live on the WCC Network, and live statistics will be available on SMCGaels.com and PacificTigers.com.

ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS SAINT MARY'S
• The Toreros are 55-14 against the Gaels all-time, with the two programs' most recent meeting coming in late September, a 3-0 USD sweep at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

• San Diego has won each of its last five matchups with SMC, a span that dates back to October 2019.

• USD is 25-8 all-time at the University Credit Union Pavilion and last lost to Saint Mary's in November of 2018, a 3-0 defeat in Moraga.

LAST TIME OUT VERSUS SAINT MARY'S…
• The Toreros swept the Gaels last time out on September 23, beginning WCC play with a win.

• Senior Katie Lukes and junior Grace Frohling each reached double-digit kills, redshirt sophomore Isadora Terçariol notched 34 assists with 15 digs as USD won the first set by a 25-7 margin, the second 25-21, and the third 25-9.

• Lukes led the way for the Toreros with 15 kills, six digs, and a service ace as she hit .375, while Frohling wasn't too far behind with 10 kills, five digs of her own, and three service aces as she hit .348. Terçariol added three kills and a service ace, Kylie Pries had six and hit at a .462 clip, and Leyla Blackwell put together four at a .375 average.

• Libero Annie Benbow had 18 digs and two service aces.

• Defensively, Frohling paced San Diego with a match-high four block assists, Blackwell recorded three, and Gabby Goddard notched two.

ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS PACIFIC
• The Toreros are 17-0 versus the Tigers all-time, with the two programs' most recent meeting coming in late September, a 3-0 USD sweep at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

• San Diego has won each of its last 17 matchups with Pacific, a span that dates back to the all-time series' inception in 1976.

• USD is 8-0 all-time at the Alex G. Spanos Center, and last played there in October of 2019, a 3-1 USD win in Stockton.

LAST TIME OUT VERSUS PACIFIC…
• The Toreros swept the Tigers last time out on September 25, winning in what marked their second WCC match of the season.

• USD won the first set 25-22, then took the second and third by scores of 25-19 and 25-13.

• Kylie Pries and Katie Lukes combined to hit .386 with 19 kills, Leyla Blackwell had five kills and four total blocks.

• Lukes led the way, hitting .379 with 12 kills and adding five digs for good measure.

• Blackwell continued to be a force in the middle with four total blocks and five kills on .556 hitting.

• Frohling continued her multifaceted play with eight kills, five digs and 2.5 total blocks. 

• Libero Annie Benbow had 12 digs and one assist. Setter Isadora Tercariol added six digs to go along with 28 assists. 

LAST TIME OUT
• San Diego dropped a tough decision to Pepperdine last time out, falling to the Waves 3-2 at the JCP.

• The loss came despite 21 kills from junior Grace Frohling, 45 assists from redshirt sophomore Isadora Terçariol, and 16 digs from senior libero Annie Benbow.

• The Toreros took the first two sets by scores of 25-19 and 25-17, then dropped the next three by scores of 25-21, 25-20, and 17-15 to suffer the 3-2 loss.

• Frohling had 12 block assists and nine digs, while Stoner set a new career-high for the second match in a row with 10 block assists (one solo).

• Katie Lukes had eight digs, while senior libero Camryn Tastad, Terçariol, and Pries each had seven.

IN THE RANKINGS
• USD checked in at No. 23 in this week's AVCA Weekly Coaches' Poll (November 15).

• The Toreros have appeared in the national top-25 poll for 24 consecutive seasons, with 22 top-10 appearances. USD's highest ranking was No. 2 overall (Sept. 16, 2013).
 
• USD's highest-ranked victory came on Sept. 13, 2013 against No. 1 USC (3-1) in the Jenny Craig Pavilion. It marks the only time the Toreros have defeated a top-ranked team.

HOW SWEEP IT IS
• USD's sweep over Portland last Thursday marked the team's 10th of 2021, and its ninth out of 13 WCC games.

• The Toreros have swept Hawaii (Sept. 3), Cal Poly (Sept. 4), Saint Mary's (Sept. 23), Pacific (Sept. 25), San Francisco (Sept. 30), Gonzaga (Oct. 7), Portland (Oct. 9), Santa Clara (Oct. 28), San Francisco (Oct. 30), and Portland (Nov. 4).

• They have only been swept twice in 2021, both by Top-10 teams — No. 1 Texas on August 27 and No. 8 BYU on Oct. 22.

STONER SHINING
• Freshman middle blocker Haylee Stoner emerged as a defensive force to be reckoned with this past week, racking up 16 total blocks (one solo) across the Toreros' two matches against Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine.

• The San Marcos, California native set forth five block assists against the Lions on Thursday night, then set a new career high with 10 block assists and one solo block against the Waves on Saturday afternoon in the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

• She's accumulated 23 total blocks so far in 2021 in her first college season.

BLOCK PARTY FOR BLACKWELL AND TOREROS
• Through 24 games in 2021 so far, middle blocker Leyla Blackwell and the Toreros have found themselves near the top of the national leaderboards for blocks.

• Blackwell, a 6-4 sophomore from San Diego, California, leads the Toreros and the WCC with an average of 1.44 blocks per set, a mark that ranks fifth in all of NCAA Division I.

• Her 125 total blocks in 2021 ranks 18th in the nation and also leads the WCC.

• As a team, USD has totaled an average of 2.90 blocks per set, a mark that leads the conference and also ranks fourth in all of NCAA Division I.

• The Toreros' 255.5 total blocks in 2021 lead the WCC and rank 23rd in the nation

FROHLING FLOURISHING
• Junior opposite/setter Grace Frohling has paced the Torero offense with a team-best 336 kills so far in 2021, a mark that leads the roster by 49 kills and ranks third in the WCC.

•The Los Angeles, California native has tallied a team-leading 34 service aces in addition to her wealth of kills, and her 92 total blocks and 153 digs rank second and third on the team.

• On Saturday against Pepperdine Frohling led the Toreros with 21 kills, the third time this season she's had more than 20 and the eighth time she's turned in 19 or more.

LUKES LEADING
• Senior outside hitter Katie Lukes has provided a potent one-two punch for the Toreros this year in addition to Frohling.

• She erupted for a career-high 27 kills in the Toreros' match at Gonzaga on November. 6, leading USD to a 3-1 win over the Bulldogs at the Martin Centre.

• Lukes has recorded 15 or more kills in nine games this season, has reached the 20-kill mark on three occasions, and has notched at least seven kills in every match she's appeared in so far.

•She's racked up 158 kills in her last 10 matches, including 20 at then-No. 24 Pepperdine (10/14), 21 at LMU (10/16), 15 against both Santa Clara (10/28) and San Francisco (10/30), 27 at Gonzaga (11/6), and 13 versus Pepperdine on Saturday afternoon in the Toreros' most recent match (11/13).

• Despite having only played in 21 of the Toreros' 24 matches so far this year due to a mid-season injury, the San Clemente, California native ranks second on the USD roster with 287 kills in 2021, a mark that is ninth in the WCC and the second-most among conference players who have played 21 matches or less.

CAN YOU DIG IT?
• Libero Annie Benbow has been a mainstay for the Toreros on defense, totaling a team-best 357 digs through USD's 24 games so far in 2021, a mark that ranks fourth in the WCC.

• She added to that total last week against Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine, notching 12 against the Lions and 16 against the Waves.

• The Frisco, Texas native is now in her fourth year with USD, and has earned All-WCC honors on three occasions (2019, honorable mention, 2020-2021 and 2019, academic honorable mention).

A HELPING HAND
• Setter Isadora Terçariol has been at the center of the Toreros' success so far this season, with 751 assists under her belt in 2021.

• She added 29 last Thursday versus LMU, then nearly reached her career high (49) with 45 assists on Saturday afternoon against Pepperdine, the eighth time she's reached 40 and the third time she's tallied 45 or more so far this season.

• Terçariol, a redshirt sophomore from Bauru, Säo Paulo, Brazil, has already bested her assists total from a season ago (239), and has appeared in 23 of USD's 24 matches.