No. 25 San Diego (3-2)  •  No. 16 UCLA (4-0)  •  San Diego State (1-5)
Sept. 9  |   Jenny Craig Pavilion (5,100)  •  San Diego, Calif.
Live Stream  •  WCC Network  |  Live Statistics  •  USDToreros.com
Sept. 11 |  Peterson Gym (3,668)  •  San Diego, Calif.
Live Stream  •  Mountain West Network  |  Live Statistics  •  USDToreros.com
Social  •  Facebook.com/USDVolleyball  •  Twitter.com/USDVolleyball  •  Instagram.com/USDVolleyball

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SAN DIEGO—No. 25 San Diego is set to host No. 16 UCLA in its home opener on Thursday, before traveling to face cross town rival San Diego State on Saturday.
 
After five-straight road matches to open the season, the Toreros (3-2) finally open play in the Jenny Craig Pavilion, hosting the Bruins (4-0) on Sept. 9. USD will then make the short trip across town to face the Aztecs (1-5) on Sept. 11. Both matches are scheduled for 7 p.m. (PT).
 
A free live stream of both matches and live statistics will be available via USDToreros.com.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST NO. 16 UCLA
• Thursday is the 14th all-time meeting between the Toreros and the Bruins. USD trails the all-time series 1-12. The teams last met in 2018 in the JCP with No. 10 UCLA squeezing out a 3-2 victory.
 
• USD's lone victory came on Sept. 10, 2016 at home against the No. 7 Bruins, 3-1.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST SAN DIEGO STATE
•  Saturday will mark the 56th all-time meeting between San Diego and San Diego State. The Toreros lead the all-time series 31-24.
 
•  The two teams last met during the 2019 season with USD coming out on top, 3-0, on Sept. 20, 2021. Saturday will mark the first time the teams have met since former USD associate head coach Brent Hilliard took over the SDSU program.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• San Diego went 2-1 at the Utah Classic in Salt Lake City over the Labor Day Weekend. The Toreros got their first sweep of the season with a 3-0 victory over Hawaii in the early match on Friday before dropping a 3-1 contest to No. 19 Utah in the evening. USD bounced back on Saturday with a 3-0 win over Cal Poly.
 
• Grace Frohling and Katie Lukes were named to the all-tournament team.
 
• Katie Lukes was dominant from the pin on the weekend, hitting .386 in two matches and averaging 4.86 kills per set to earn a spot on the all-tournament team. The senior outside hitter collected 34 kills in seven sets, including a career-high 19 kills against No. 19 Utah. She added an ace and three blocks to finish the weekend with 37 points (5.3 pts per set).
 
• Grace Frohling collected a team-best 40 kills in 10 sets to average 4.00 kills per set at a .274 clip over the weekend. The junior opposite also added 1.3 blocks and two aces to finish the weekend with 48.5 points. She notched her second double-double of the season against Hawaii with 12 kills and 11 digs and finished one dig shy of a double-double in both of the other weekend matches, adding 18 kills and nine digs against No. 19 Utah and 10 kills, nine digs against Cal Poly.
 
•  Gabby Goddard helped the Toreros average 2.80 blocks per set in three matches. The senior middle blocker collected 15 blocks in 10 sets to average a team-best 1.50 blocks per set. She started off the weekend with four blocks in a 3-0 win against Hawaii on Friday morning and added seven more against No. 19 Utah in the evening match. On Saturday, Goddard added four more blocks in USD's 3-0 sweep of Cal Poly.
 
IN THE RANKINGS
• San Diego came in at No. 25 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.

UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO FACE COVERING GUIDELINES 
• Per university guidelines, residents and visitors to campus are required to wear a face covering inside all university buildings. This includes spectators at all indoor USD Athletics events. For the latest information and university policies regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, visit the Onward USD website.
 
LOOKING AHEAD
• Next up, the Toreros will travel to Los Angeles for a pair of matches to wrap up their nonconference, taking on USC on Friday, Sept. 17 (6 p.m.) and facing off with Long Beach State on Saturday, Sept. 18 (4 p.m.). WCC play begins on Sept. 23 at home against Saint Mary's.
 
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.
 
• Alfred "Alfee" Reft enters his second season with the Toreros, joining USD as associate head coach after spending two seasons as an assistant coach at Illinois. Reft brings a wealth of national team experience to the USD gym, as both a player and coach. He served as volunteer for the U.S. Women's and Men's National Teams from 2016-18 and was a member of the U.S. Men's National Team from 2006-10 and 2012-15.
 
• Jimmy Lundgren enters his fourth season with USD, serving as recruiting coordinator and assistant coach. Lundgren joined the Toreros after four seasons coaching at Point Loma Nazarene.
 
CHALLENGING SCHEDULE AHEAD
• San Diego will begin the season with a challenging nine-match nonconference schedule that includes three tournaments and eight matches on the road.
 
• The Toreros will face five opponents that competed in the spring 2021 NCAA Tournament, including Texas, Utah, UCLA, BYU and Pepperdine.
 
• USD will kick off the 2021 campaign against NCAA Finals contender and preseason No. 1 Texas in Austin.