SAN DIEGO — No. 2 San Diego volleyball's historic season continued on Thursday night with its program-record 20th consecutive win, a 3-0 sweep of Saint Mary's at the Jenny Craig Pavilion that marked the Toreros' 12th straight sweep.

USD (23-1, 14-0 WCC) took the first set 25-12, then prevailed in the second by a 25-19 margin. A dominant 25-15 victory ensued in the third, earning San Diego a 3-0 win over the Gaels (7-15, 4-10 WCC).

Once again led by redshirt senior Katie Lukes (15 kills, .375), the Toreros out-hit SMC .320 to .056 and out-blocked the Gaels 10.0 to 3.5.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set - No. 2 San Diego, 25-12

• USD began Thursday night's first set on a 10-2 run and never looked back, establishing an early lead via a flurry of kills from Lukes in addition to service aces from redshirt senior libero Annie Benbow and senior opposite/setter Grace Frohling, and combo blocks from sophomore middle blocker Haylee Stoner and Frohling, Stoner and Lukes, and Stoner and graduate outside hitter Breana Edwards.
• Back-to-back kills from Edwards followed to maintain San Diego's lead, then another combo block from Stoner and Frohling several points later expanded the Toreros' advantage to 10 at 17-7.
• Three kills from Lukes, one from Edwards, and a block assist from Edwards and junior middle blocker Leyla Blackwell down the stretch sealed a 25-12 win for USD in set one, pushing it ahead 1-0 over Saint Mary's in the match.

First Set Notables:

• Lukes: Eight kills (.667), two digs, and a block assist
• Edwards: Three kills (.250) and two block assists.
• Blossom: Eight assists and three digs
• Benbow: One dig and two service aces
• Frohling: One service ace, one dig, and two block assists

Second Set - No. 2 San Diego, 25-19

• Thursday night's second set featured the match's only tie scores (seven) and lead changes (four), many of which came in the frame's early stages as USD and SMC battled back and forth to get things started.
• The two teams were tied as late as 10-10 before Frohling restored order by hammering a kill home to push her team back in front by an 11-10 margin.
• USD's lead swelled to as many as five down the stretch at 19-15 on a kill from Lukes before the Gaels mounted one final attempt at a comeback.
• SMC climbed within one at 20-19, but San Diego finished the frame on a 5-0 run to secure a 25-19 victory in the second, doing so with a kill from Edwards and two more from Blackwell to jump ahead 2-0 in the match.

Second Set Notables:

• Blackwell: Four kills (.444) and a block assist.
• Edwards: Three kills (.400)
• Frohling: Three kills (.333)
• Lukes: Two kills (.000), two digs, and two block assists
• Blossom: 13 assists, five digs, and a block assist
• Junior libero Madi Allen: Five digs
• Benbow: Three digs

Third Set - No. 2 San Diego, 25-15

• Thursday night's third and final set marked a return to the Toreros' customary complete dominance, with San Diego opening up a frame in which they never trailed or tied their opponent on a 4-1 run, one that was facilitated by two kills from Frohling and a combo block from Frohling and Stoner.
• USD stretched its lead to seven midway through the set on a kill from Lukes, then a kill from Edwards made it an eight-point advantage at 16-8.
• That lead stretched to nine down the stretch when Frohling made it 21-12 with another kill before one final kill from Frohling ended it, earning the Toreros a 25-15 win in the set and a 3-0 sweep in the match to mark San Diego's program-record 20th consecutive victory and 12th consecutive win in straight sets.

Third Set Notables:

• Frohling: Six kills (.600) and two block assists
• Lukes: Five kills (.400) and three digs
• Edwards: Four kills (.250)
• Stoner: One kill (.000), one service ace, and one block assist
• Blossom: 15 assists and six digs
• Benbow: Eight digs

TORERO TIDBITS

• Lukes paced the match with 15 kills while hitting .375, also adding seven digs and three block assists.
• Edwards was next with 10 kills while hitting .280 to go with two block assists. Her first kill on Thursday marked the 1,500th of her career across 108 matches at Indiana (2018-2021) and 24 more at USD (2022). She now has 1,509 for her career.
• Frohling set forth nine kills (.368) alongside a service ace, a dig, and four block assists.
• Blackwell contributed six kills (.353) to go with three block assists.
• Stoner led the San Diego defense with a match-high seven block assists, also adding a pair of kills and a service ace.
• Blossom had a match-high 36 kills, a match-high 14 digs, and a block assist. The St. Louis, Missouri native has set forth 30 assists or more in 22 of the Toreros' 24 matches so far in 2022, including a season-high 53 in USD's 3-2 win over No. 6 Pitt on August 26.
• Benbow tallied 12 digs and a match-high two service aces, moving her into second-place all-time for career digs at USD, passing Jackie Bernardin's (2003-05) second-place total of 1,464. With 1,469 to her credit across nearly five full seasons at USD, Benbow is now just 20 digs away from San Diego's all-time digs record (1,489) held by Hunter Jennings (2013-16).
• Allen had seven digs.
• Freshman libero/defensive specialist Olivia Bennett recorded six digs and two assists, one dig off her career high of seven that she set on August 28 earlier this season.
• Thursday night's victory over Saint Mary's marked the Toreros' program-record 20th consecutive win, surpassing the previous mark of 19 in a row that was achieved in both 1997 and 2004.
• USD has now swept 12 matches in a row.

UP NEXT
The Toreros will remain at home on Saturday afternoon for their final regular-season home match of 2022, which marks USD's Senior Day. Six seniors (Breana Edwards, Gabby Blossom, Gabby Goddard, Grace Frohling, Annie Benbow, and Katie Lukes) are set to be honored in a pregame ceremony. First serve at the Jenny Craig Pavilion against Pacific is set for 12:00 p.m.