AUSTIN, Texas—Grace Frohling set a new career high with 19 kills to propel No. 20 San Diego to a 3-1 victory over UTSA on Saturday afternoon in Gregory Gymnasium.
 
The Toreros (1-1) got off to a slow start, hitting .000 as a team and dropping the first set 25-11. Sparked by a dominating 15.5 team blocks and Frohling's high-powered .381 hitting percentage, USD took three straight sets to win the match 11-25, 25-19, 25-13, 25-15.
 
In addition to her 19 kills, Frohling added 12 digs for her first double-double of the season. Kylie Pries tallied her first career match with double-digit kills, finishing with 10 kills at a .364 clip. Katie Lukes also finished one-kill shy of a double-double with nine kills and a career-best 11 digs.
 
The Toreros dominated at the net with 15.5 team blocks—their best since Oct. 12, 2021 against San Francisco (17.0 total blocks). Leyla Blackwell led the charge with eight blocks, including one solo stop. Frohling, Elly Schraeder and Isadora Terçariol all added four blocks each, with nine Toreros contributing at least one stop at the net.
 
Annie Benbow was sensational in the back court, finishing with 22 digs—three shy of her career high. Terçariol also finished with a double-double, tallying 11 digs and 38 assists.
 
It was all UTSA (0-1) to start the contest, collecting 4.0 blocks and three aces and holding USD to a .000 hitting percentage. The Roadrunners hit .333 as a team for a dominating 25-11 first-set victory.
 
It looked as if it would be more of the same in the second frame when UTSA jumped out to a 15-8 lead, but two kills from Frohling and a Torero block sparked an epic 17-4 run for USD to close out the set. Frohling put up six kills in the comeback and USD collected 8.5 blocks to hold UTSA to a .000 hitting percentage down the stretch.
 
The Toreros found their rhythm in the third set, leading from start to finish. USD jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead behind two kills from Blackwell and two from Frohling. Frohling added five more kills and San Diego's solid defensive effort held the Roadrunners to their lowest hitting percentage of the match (-.083) to cruise to the 25-13 victory and a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
In the fourth set, the teams traded points to a 10-8 USD lead before the Toreros put together a 9-2 run to take a commanding lead and never looked back. The final frame saw strong offensive contributions from Frohling, Pries and Lukes, while San Diego hit .371 to take the set 25-15 and the match, 3-1.
 
Next up, the Toreros will travel to Salt Lake City for the Utah Classic. On Friday, Sept. 3, the Toreros will face Hawaii (11:30 a.m. PT) and host Utah (6 p.m. PT) in a double header. USD will wrap up the weekend tournament against Cal Poly on Saturday, Sept. 4 at 3:30 p.m. (PT).