No. 21 San Diego (1-1)  •  Hawaii (2-1)  •  No. 19 Utah (2-0)  •  Cal Poly (1-2)
Sept. 3 & 4  |  Huntsman Center (8,000)  •  Salt Lake City, Utah
Live Stream  •  Utah Live Stream  |  Live Statistics  •  USDToreros.com
Social  •  Facebook.com/USDVolleyball  •  Twitter.com/USDVolleyball  •  Instagram.com/USDVolleyball
 
SAN DIEGO—No. 22 San Diego is set to travel for the Utah Classic to face Hawaii, No. 19 Utah, and Cal Poly in a round-robin tournament.
 
The Toreros (1-1) will play two matches on Friday (Sept. 3), taking on Hawaii in the early neutral match at 11:30 a.m. (PT) before facing host Utah at 6 p.m. (PT). On Saturday, USD will face Cal Poly at 3:30 p.m. (PT).
 
All matches will be streamed here and live statistics will be available on USDToreros.com.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST HAWAII
• Friday is the eighth all-time meeting between the Toreros and the Rainbow Wahine. USD trails the all-time series 2-5, falling in both matchups in 2019.
 
• The two teams last met in the second round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament with No. 18 Hawaii coming out on top 3-0 in Honolulu.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST NO. 19 UTAH
•  Friday will mark the seventh all-time meeting between San Diego and Utah. The Utes lead the all-time series 4-2.
 
•  The two teams last met during the 2017 season with No. 18 Utah winning, 3-2. San Diego's last victory over the Utes came on Oct. 19, 2010 with a 3-1 victory in the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST CAL POLY
•  Saturday will be the 18th all-time meeting between USD and Cal Poly. The Toreros lead the all-time series 11-6 with a current four-match winning streak.
 
• The teams last met in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament with USD coming out on top, 3-1, in the Galen Center on the campus of USC.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• San Diego went 1-1 on the opening weekend of the 2021 campaign. The Toreros played a pair of matches in Austin, Texas, falling to No. 1 Texas, 3-0 on Friday. USD took care of business on Saturday, defeating UTSA in a neutral match, 3-1.
 
• Grace Frohling led the Toreros offensively collecting seven kills against Texas and a career-best 19 kills (.381 hitting percentage) against UTSA. The junior opposite averaged 3.71 kills per set, hitting at a .317 clip on the opening weekend. Defensively, Frohling added five block assists on the weekend and tallied 12 digs in the match against the Roadrunners for her first double-double of the season.
 
• San Diego newcomer Leyla Blackwell made an immediate impact at the net for USD, tallying 11.0 blocks in her first two matches as a Torero. The sophomore transfer put up three blocks, including one solo stop against No. 1 Texas on Friday evening and put together an impressive performance against UTSA the following day with eight blocks, including one solo stuff.
 
IN THE RANKINGS
• San Diego came in at No. 22 in the AVCA Weekly Coaches' Poll for week one (Aug. 30) after appearing at No. 20 in the preseason poll.
 
• 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.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
• Next up, the Toreros will welcome fans back to the Jenny Craig Pavilion when they host No. 19 UCLA in their home opener on Thursday (Sept. 9) at 7 p.m. (PT). USD will then travel across town to face San Diego State on Saturday (Sept. 11) at 7 p.m. (PT). It will mark the first matchup against the Aztecs since former USD associate head coach Brent Hilliard took over the SDSU program in 2020.
 
FROHLING AND LUKES NAMED TO PRESEASON TEAM
• Grace Frohling and Katie Lukes were named to the 2021 All-WCC Preseason Team, the second such honor for Frohling and third for Lukes.
 
• Frohling, a rising junior, was one of two USD players to start all 18 matches and appear in all 66 sets. The 6-5 opposite finished first on the team in total blocks (53.0) and aces (26), second in points scored (231.0) and third in kills (178) to earn her second first-team recognition. Frohling also ranked fourth in the WCC in aces per set (0.39) and third in total aces.
 
• Lukes, a 6-2 senior outside hitter, appeared in eight matches (30 sets) in the spring and collected 68 kills, 25 digs and 76.0 points for the Toreros. She also averaged 2.53 kills per set which ranked fourth on the team to earn her second consecutive second-team honor.
 
TOREROS PICKED NO. 2
• USD was picked to finished second overall in a poll of WCC coaches with 70 points and one first-place vote. Defending WCC champion BYU was picked to finish first with nine of the 10 first-place votes and 81 points. Pepperdine rounded out the top three with 68 points. LMU came in fourth with 57 points, followed by Santa Clara (49), Saint Mary's (38), Gonzaga (29), Pacific (27), San Francisco (19) and Portland (12).
 
EXPERIENCED ROSTER
• San Diego returns 11 scholar-athletes from the 2021 spring season team that finished the season 13-5 overall, 12-4 in WCC play and made it to the second round of the 2020 NCAA Tournament.
 
• The Toreros return starters Annie Benbow (L), Grace Frohling (OPP), Gabby Goddard (MB), Laura Madill (S) along with a deep bench. The roster currently boasts 11 Toreros who saw action in at least 50 percent of USD's matches last spring.
 
NOTABLE DEPARTURES
• San Diego lost two powerful offensive weapons to graduation in 2021, with the departure of AVCA All-America third team honoree Roxie Wiblin and AVCA Pacific South All-Region honorable mention, Thana Fayad.
 
• The senior outside hitters combined for 54 percent of San Diego's kills (466 of 863). Wiblin led the team in kills (273) and points (307), while Fayad finished second with 193 kills and a team-best .319 hitting percentage.
 
FRESH FACES
• The Toreros added five newcomers for the 2020-21 season, including four true freshmen and one transfer.
 
• Middle blocker Leyla Blackwell (San Diego, Calif.) joined the Toreros as a sophomore transfer after a standout freshman campaign at Indiana where she led the team in blocks (61 total, 0.94 per set) and hitting percentage (.284).
 
• The true freshmen include Annika Hester (Falmouth, Maine), Anna Jaworowski (Chicago, Ill.), Haylee Stoner (San Marcos, Calif.) and Emily Wilson (Morris, Ill.).
 
LEADING THE WAY
• Jennifer Petrie is in her 23rd year with the USD program and holds a career record of 427-155 (.734) heading into the 2021 fall season. She won her sixth WCC Coach of the Year award in 2019 and has led the Toreros to the NCAA Tournament 21 times in her career. USD made its 11th-straight NCAA Tournament appearance in the spring of 2021.