PORTLAND, Ore. — Highlighted by a remarkable 11 service aces, No. 4 San Diego volleyball (13-1, 4-0 WCC) cruised to its 10th consecutive win on Saturday afternoon at Portland (8-8, 1-4 WCC), taking just an hour and 20 minutes to sweep the Pilots in the Chiles Center in what marked a well-rounded team effort and USD's eighth victory in straight sets so far this season.

The Toreros took the first two sets by identical 25-13 margins, then closed things out with a 25-18 decision in the third to secure their eighth sweep of 2022. Redshirt senior outside hitter Katie Lukes was tied for the match-high with nine kills, followed by five USD players who notched four kills or more.

San Diego never trailed in the match, which saw senior opposite/setter Grace Frohling notch her 1,000th career kill, and was tied with Portland just four times.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set - No. 4 San Diego, 25-13

• The Toreros wasted no time in building an early advantage, jumping out to a 2-0 lead as Saturday's match got underway with back-to-back combo blocks from junior middle blocker Leyla Blackwell (La Jolla High School) and Frohling, and Lukes and sophomore middle blocker Haylee Stoner (Mission Hills High School).
• Portland scored two points of their own to get within one at 3-2, but got no closer.
• Service aces from graduate transfer setter Gabby Blossom (Penn State)  and junior transfer libero Madi Allen (BYU, Great Oak High School) helped San Diego build a sizable lead as the set progressed, with Allen's coming in back-to-back fashion to move the score to 13-5 in favor of the visitors and prompt a Portland timeout.
• USD's offensive onslaught continued out of the break. A service ace from redshirt senior libero Annie Benbow stretched her team's lead to nine at 15-6, then Stoner — the reigning WCC Defensive Player of the Week — showed her versatility with a powerful kill to push the Torero lead to 10.
• San Diego made it 11 at 21-10 on yet another service ace (this time from junior setter Alex Hoglund) before two Portland service errors, and attack error, and a bad Pilot set pushed USD to a 25-13 win in Saturday afternoon's opening fame to give the Toreros a 1-0 lead in the match.

First Set Notables:

• Lukes: Three kills (.200), a dig, and a block assist
• Allen: Two service aces and a dig
• Blossom: Seven assists, four digs, a service ace, and a kill
• Blackwell and Stoner: One block assist apiece
• San Diego: Five service aces

Second Set - No. 4 San Diego, 25-13

• USD and Portland traded early blows for a 3-3 tie to begin Saturday's second set before the Toreros began to create distance, doing so with a service ace from Lukes, kills from Stoner, Blackwell and graduate transfer outside hitter Breana Edwards (Indiana) , and another service ace from Blossom to make it 11-6, San Diego.
• The Torero lead stretched to 10 at 21-11 later on via a kill from redshirt senior middle blocker Gabby Goddard, then two Portland attack errors and a trio of service errors from the Pilots sealed another 25-13 San Diego set win, this time in Saturday's second to secure USD a commanding 2-0 advantage in the match.

Second Set Notables:

• Lukes: Four kills (.444), one service ace, two digs, and one block assist
• Blossom: Twelve assists, four digs, and a service ace
• Stoner: One block assist

Third Set - No. 4 San Diego, 25-18

• San Diego picked up right where it left off in Saturday's third and final set, building a third consecutive early lead via service aces from Benbow and Frohling, three kills from Edwards, and once more from Blackwell to make it 10-5.
• That advantage swelled to six at 12-6 when Allen notched another service ace, then Blossom pushed it to 11 at 23-12 with another service ace of her own.
• Portland showed late life by scoring five times at match point (24-13) in an effort to stave off the sweep, but would get no closer, falling by a 25-18 margin in the set and a 3-0 margin in the match after one last kill from Frohling brought home San Diego's 10th straight win.

Third Set Notables:

• Frohling: Five kills (.625), a service ace, and a dig
• Edwards: Five kills (.200) a dig, and a solo block
• Blossom: 13 assists, a service ace, and a dig.
• Allen: Three digs and a service ace
• San Diego: Four service aces

TORERO TIDBITS

• Frohling recorded her 1,000th career kill on Saturday afternoon after finding her mark eight times against the Pilots. She now has 1,001 total kills across three-plus years, 90 matches, and 325 sets in a San Diego uniform.
• Lukes led the way with nine kills while hitting .348, tying the match-high as she added three digs, two block assists, and a service ace.
• She was followed by Frohling, who tallied eight (.500), adding two digs, a block assist, a service ace, and an assist.
• Edwards matched Frohling's kill total with eight of her own alongside a dig and a block assist.
• Blackwell was next with five while hitting at a .200 clip, followed by Goddard and Stoner, who each added four while hitting .200 and .600, respectively.
• Stoner, the reigning WCC Defensive Player of the Week, also chipped in two block assists, making her the only player besides Lukes to have more than one on Saturday.
• Blossom had 32 assists, a tied-for-match-high three service aces, a team-high 12 digs, and a kill. She has recorded 30 assists or more in each of San Diego's first 14 games as she begins her USD career.
• Benbow had seven digs, two service aces, and two assists, Allen tied the match-high with three service aces and five digs of her own, and freshman libero/defensive specialist Olivia Bennett notched four digs and two assists.
• San Diego out-hit Portland .341 to 150 and racked up 11 service aces to the Pilots' two.
• USD has now won 10 consecutive matches, a stretch that dates back to September 3rd's sweep of No. 8 Ohio State at the Cardinal Classic.
• San Diego has swept eight of its first 14 matches so far in 2022.

UP NEXT
The Toreros return home next Thursday (October 6) to continue West Coast Conference play. First serve against San Francisco at the Jenny Craig Pavilion is set for 7:00 p.m.