SAN DIEGO — Thirty-one matches was enough for a lot of things to happen in 2018. It was enough for San Diego volleyball to notch 18 wins — three against ranked teams — and reach the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 in one of USD's most accomplished seasons to date. A timeframe substantial enough for then-freshmen Annie Benbow and Katie Lukes to combine for nearly 200 digs and 230 kills as they got their college careers underway in impressive fashion, setting parallel paths of success into motion. 

Nearly five years later, however, Benbow is quick to point out what didn't immediately crystallize during those 31 contests.

"I was just saying that I was sad about it," she recollects wistfully with Lukes to her left, the pair seated in an empty Jenny Craig Pavilion. "Katie and I weren't even that close our freshman year…until that spring, even the end of the year, March, April."

Even after a dynamic season on the court, it took a bit of fate in the offseason for one of the most significant duos in the history of San Diego Athletics to coalesce.

"We had class together and it was like she was a long-lost sister," Benbow described. "We just clicked, right away, and this is year four now of being best friends."

A chance encounter, four-plus years of friendship, and perhaps now, history, in Alcala Park.
 
"When Katie's next to me, I've got her, and she's got me," Benbow adds with pride. "She's the best friend, teammate, supporter."

Where Lukes goes, Benbow goes, where Benbow goes, Lukes goes, and where the pair goes, the Toreros seem to follow, putting together an distinguished run of success over the pair's now five-year tenure that's featured a quartet of NCAA Tournament appearances and a West Coast Conference Championship so far. The duo's presence — a constant for the Toreros in the age of the transfer portal — has provided more than just a feel-good story for USD. Across a combined 727 San Diego sets since 2018, Benbow and Lukes have teamed up for nearly 1,200 kills and more than 1,400 digs, giving each player ample chances to re-write the Torero record book.
 

"Katie and Annie know exactly what I'm thinking before even I say it…they probably could run a lot of postgame speeches," head coach Jennifer Petrie says with a chuckle, now in her 24th season at the helm of a women's volleyball powerhouse. "They're great leaders, they're great spokespeople and representatives of our program."

They've proved to be a lasting, cohesive combination despite sharing little immediate similarities. Lukes stands at 6-foot-2, a powerful outside hitter who has struck fear into the WCC for the better part of five seasons with a deft mixture of brute force, speed, and sheer willpower that shines high above the net. Benbow, the shortest player on the roster at just 5-foot-3 but an imposing presence all her own, everywhere at once as she denies oncoming attacks over and over again with impossible agility and stirring dives to the hardwood. One a brunette from northeast Texas, the other a blond from a coastal southern California suburb. Through it all, a bond that's endured the ups and downs of four-plus years of elite competition and earned the two their fair share of nicknames.

"People call us twins, which is hilarious," Lukes says wryly before her counterpart chimes in, laughing. "Couldn't be more opposite looking."
HAD THE PANDEMIC not robbed college athletes of traditional seasons in 2020, Benbow and Lukes — now both redshirt seniors in their final year of eligibility — may not have reunited for one last ride. 2020's volleyball season didn't get going until February of 2021, the modified campaign eventually culminating in an abbreviated 18-game sprint that made the ensuing season into another time crunch and left the duo looking for more — even after reaching the NCAA Tournament in both 2020-2021 and 2021.

"Those COVID seasons really threw us all for a loop," Petrie said. "Both Annie and Katie knew that they had unfinished business and wanted to play a full season where we had a spring season to prepare for this upcoming fall season. By the end of last fall I think that most college programs were pretty fried, we played back-to-back seasons and that would have been the end of their career. They both felt pretty confident that they wanted a chance to really train for a season of success."

Ask Lukes or Benbow about their decision to return and they are in sync as usual, side-by-side on the home court in which they've helped their team to a 48-11 (.813) record over four-plus years in USD uniforms.

"It's become a home for me, there was no doubt in my mind I wanted to stay." Lukes describes ahead of Benbow's assessment: "Best decision I ever made."
Their final year as Toreros has seen their decisions to return validated in spades. In September Petrie characterized the 2022 squad as her most talented team ever, and the results have followed suit. San Diego enters Saturday afternoon's action at 19-1 (10-0 WCC), the No. 3 team in the nation with a 16-game win-streak under its belt and its lone loss on the road at then-No. 3 Louisville. Alongside Benbow and Lukes and fellow returners Leyla Blackwell, Grace Frohling, and Haylee Stoner, a bevy of high-profile transfers have elevated the Toreros to regular-season heights not seen in nearly a decade. Breana Edwards (Indiana) has added firepower on offense, Gabby Blossom (Penn State) has provided an elite presence at setter, and Madi Allen (BYU) has set forth enviable depth on defense, upgrading an already formidable San Diego roster.

Midseason returns have seen the Toreros take down four ranked opponents, including a decisive sweep of No. 17 BYU last week, and on October 2 the NCAA Division I Volleyball Committee placed USD third in its first set of rankings, which will be used to set the postseason field come late November. Amid a season of upheaval that's moved the Toreros into rarefied air, Lukes and Benbow have held constant, leading the team with 262 kills and 251 digs, respectively.

'It's exciting to see how they've steered this program and kept everyone together," Petrie added. "As true seniors — super seniors — having an influx of new people, that could have hurt chemistry. But we've done a really good job of absorbing our newcomers, making sure everyone is treated with the same amount of respect, making sure everyone belongs. It's been a really good dynamic."
ON MONDAY AFTERNOON, nearly five years after they first forged their friendship in a classroom on America's most picturesque campus, Benbow and Lukes' dominance was recognized with one of the only honors they've never shared: tandem selections as the WCC's Defensive and Offensive Players of the Week. The accolades came after Benbow set forth 14 digs and Lukes added her customary 15 kills against the Cougars, trademark performances for them both as they vanquished a bitter rival they knew all too well before a packed crowd in the JCP. 

With Benbow just 73 digs away from USD's all-time record and Lukes just five kills shy of the 1,200 mark, it likely won't be the last time the pair has their names called together as San Diego marches toward what figures be a historic postseason run. Humble as ever and quick to lavish praise on their teammates, the pair's social media accounts make little mention of the remarkable season they have put together thus far. Benbow boasts no twitter account, while Lukes' page is mostly blank and features just one post — a retweet of an early October highlight captioned, "Name a more iconic duo than Katie Lukes and Annie Benbow. We'll wait."
 

Fans waiting for another pairing as talented as Lukes and Benbow may have to stick around for a while. And those hoping for another duo as close-knit? Good luck.

"She's my sense of comfort on the court," Lukes says before the pair heads off to practice, of which there are precious few left as their careers wind down and expectations for the team ratchet sky-high with the postseason approaching. 

"It's just a blessing to go through it with your best friend."