LOS ANGELES — A team-high 17 kills from Grace Frohling on Thursday night propelled No. 2 San Diego volleyball (25-1, 16-0 WCC) to its grittiest performance of the 2022 season thus far, a hard-fought, 3-2 comeback win at Loyola Marymount (16-8, 11-4 WCC) that saw the Toreros storm back to erase a 2-1 deficit and secure their 22nd consecutive victory.

USD dropped the first set 25-20, rallied for a 25-22 win in the second, fell 25-19 in the third, then recovered with a 26-24 win in the fourth, and a 15-11 victory in the fifth to win the match 3-2 over the Lions at the Gersten Pavilion.

Redshirt senior libero Annie Benbow tallied 14 digs in the match, giving her 1,490 for her career to make her San Diego volleyball's all-time digs leader.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set - Loyola Marymount, 25-20

• San Diego fell behind early on in Thursday night's first set and spent the majority of the frame trying to catch up.
• A service ace from Benbow brought USD within one at 17-16 in favor of the Lions, then a kill from Frohling (opposite/setter) tied the score at 18-18.
• Another kill from Frohling kept it tied a point later at 19-19, but the Toreros got no closer. Loyola Marymount closed the frame on a 6-1 run to secure a 25-20 win in the first and jump ahead 1-0 in the match.

First Set Notables:

• Frohling: Six kills (.500), one assist, one dig, and three block assists
• Blackwell: Two kills (1.000) and two block assists
• Graduate setter Gabby Blossom: 12 assists and two digs
• Benbow: Two digs

Second Set - No. 2 San Diego, 25-22

• Capped by a service ace from Benbow, the Toreros rebounded by beginning the second set on a 6-2 run.
• After falling behind by as many as three across the midpoint of the frame, a kill from junior middle blocker Leyla Blackwell tied the score at 14.
• Back-to-back kills from Frohling followed to make it 17-15 in favor of San Diego, but the lead proved to be short-lived. The Lions rallied to tie it at 19, then surged ahead for a late 22-20 advantage over USD.
• Powered by another kill from Frohling and a handful of Loyola Marymount errors, the Toreros regrouped to finish the second set strong, doing so with a 5-0 run to take the frame 25-22 and even the match at one.

Second Set Notables:

• Frohling: Six kills (.500), one assist, one dig, and three block assists
• Graduate outside hitter Breana Edwards: Five kills (.556) and one dig
• Blackwell: Two kills (1.000) and two block assists
• Redshirt senior outside hitter Katie Lukes: One kill (-.143), one assist, and three digs
• Blossom: 12 assists and two digs
• Benbow: Two digs and a service ace

Third Set - Loyola Marymount, 25-19

• San Diego scored first to begin the third set but never led again after jumping out to an early 1-0 lead.
• LMU slowly built a lead as the set progressed, culminating in a 17-10 advantage midway through.
• The Toreros cut the deficit to as little as five points down the stretch at 23-18, but got no further, suffering a 25-19 defeat in Thursday night's third set to fall behind 2-1 in the match.

Third Set Notables:

• Edwards: Five kills (.067) and a block assist
• Lukes: Three kills (.286) and a dig
• Frohling: Two kills (.286), a dig, and a block assist
• Sophomore middle blocker Haylee Stoner: Two kills (.667) and a block assist
• Blossom: Eight assists, four digs, and a block assist
• Benbow: Two digs and three assists
• Freshman libero/defensive specialist Olivia Bennett: One dig and one assist

Fourth Set - No. 2 San Diego, 26-24

• Back-and-forth play characterized nearly the entirety of Thursday night's fourth set, a frame that featured 18 ties and six lead changes.
• USD struck first for a 1-0 lead, then the two teams played their way into a series of deadlocks, the final of which coming at 20-20 before an LMU attack error put the Toreros up at 21-20.
• Three attack errors from the Lions down the stretch advanced the frame to set point, then junior outside hitter Kylie Pries brought home a 26-24 Torero win in the fourth with a clutch service ace, tying the match at two sets apiece.

Fourth Set Notables:

• Blackwell: Seven kills (.750) and one block assist
• Frohling: Three kills (.200), one service ace, one dig, and two block assists
• Pries: Two kills (.111), one service ace, two digs, and two block assists
• Stoner: One kill (.000) and three block assists
• Blossom: 12 assists, two digs, and one block assist
• Benbow: Five digs

Fifth Set - No. 2 San Diego, 15-11

• San Diego again struck first for a 1-0 lead to begin the fifth set before LMU rallied to tie it, then pull ahead at 3-2.
• A kill from Blackwell leveled the score at 3-3 before the Toreros fell behind for their largest deficit of the set at 9-6.
• Blossom notched a kill to bring USD back within two at 9-7, then Lukes hammered a kill of her own to make it a one-point deficit at 9-8.
• Junior setter Alex Hoglund followed with her biggest service ace of the season thus far, evening the set at nine points apiece.
• An LMU attack error and a Lukes kill followed to make it 11-9 in favor of the Toreros, and San Diego didn't trail again.
• A kill from Blackwell preceded a pair of attack errors for the Lions before the San Diego, California native found her mark one final time, sealing a 15-11 comeback win in the fifth set that earned USD a gritty, hard-fought 3-2 win at Loyola Marymount for its 22nd consecutive victory.

Fifth Set Notables:

• Blackwell: Three kills (.750) and three block assists
• Lukes: Three kills (.429), two digs, and two block assists
• Frohling: One kill (.333), one dig, and one block assist
• Stoner: One kill (.500)
• Blossom: Seven assists and one kill (1.000)
• Hoglund: One assist, one service ace, and two digs
• Pries: Two digs
• Benbow: One dig and one assist

TORERO TIDBITS

• Frohling paced the match with 17 kills (.405), also adding an assist, a service ace, four digs, and a tied-for-team-high eight block assists.
• Blackwell was next with a career-high 14 kills (.571) and a tied-for-team-high eight block assists.
• Edwards followed with 13 kills while hitting .242 and also chipped in a dig and a block assist.
• Lukes set forth 10 kills (.152), an assist, nine digs, and four block assists.
• Stoner had four kills (-.056), one dig, and five block assists.
• Pries tallied two kills (.000), a service ace, four digs, and three block assists.
• Blossom racked up 51 assists, which was two off the season-high 53 she had vs. No. 6 Pitt on August 26. It's just the second time this season she's posted 50 or more.
• The graduate setter also added a kill, 11 digs and two block assists.
• Benbow recorded 14 digs, which gives her 1,490 for her career. Her final dig of the evening pushed her past Hunter Jennings' total of 1,489 (2013-2016) to make her San Diego's new all-time digs leader.
• Benbow also led USD with two service aces on Thursday night, and contributed five assists, the most of any San Diego player other than Blossom.
• Bennett had four digs and an assist.
• Junior libero/defensive specialist Madi Allen had two digs.
• Thursday night's match marked just the fourth time this season that USD has played five sets (August 26 vs. No. 6 Pitt, September 10 vs. Utah, and September 24 vs. Loyola Marymount). The Toreros are undefeated in such matches.
• Thursday night's win snapped a streak of 13 consecutive San Diego sweeps. Since September 24, Loyola Marymount is the only team to win a set against the Toreros, and remains one of just six overall teams to take a set from the Toreros in 2022.
• Thursday night's match is one of just three WCC matches and seven overall contests that USD did not sweep so far this season.
• This year's team is one of just nine in San Diego volleyball history to win at least 25 matches.
• The Toreros' 3-2 victory at Loyola Marymount on Thursday evening guaranteed them at least a share of the 2022 WCC Championship. 
• USD has now won a program-record 22 consecutive matches dating back to September 3rd's sweep of No. 8 Ohio State at the Cardinal Classic in Louisville.

UP NEXT
The Toreros will remain on the road this weekend as they travel to Malibu to continue West Coast Conference play at Pepperdine. First serve at the Firestone Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon is set for 12:00 p.m. With a win, USD will clinch the outright 2022 WCC Championship.