PALO ALTO, Calif. — Two-seed No. 3 San Diego volleyball (31-1, 18-0 WCC) on Saturday completed the biggest win in program history to date, stunning one-seed/host No. 5 Stanford (27-5, 19-1 Pac 12) with a thrilling 3-2 win in the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight as it silenced the Maples Pavilion to advance to its first-ever Final Four.
The Toreros dropped the first set 25-19, rallied for a 25-22 win in the second, dropped the third 25-19 again, then erupted for 25-23 and 15-9 wins in the fourth and fifth frames to secure a five-set, 3-2 comeback win in Palo Alto.
Redshirt senior
Katie Lukes (.185) led USD with 20 kills, followed by both senior opposite/setter
Grace Frohling (.308) and graduate outside hitter
Breana Edwards (.293) with 18 apiece as their team out-hit Stanford .283 to .253.
Edwards and junior middle blocker
Leyla Blackwell paced the San Diego defense with seven total blocks each.
Saturday night's win marked San Diego's program-record 28th in a row. Up next is a matchup in the Final Four (NCAA National Semfinal) in Omaha, Nebraska against one-seed No. 1 Texas on Thursday, December 15.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set - No. 5 Stanford, 25-19
- USD jumped out to an early 3-1 lead to begin Saturday night's first set but the Cardinal quickly rallied to take a 5-4 lead on a service ace.
- San Diego trailed by as many as seven down the stretch before cutting the deficit to five at 21-16 on a kill from Frohling.
- The Toreros fought off back-to-back set points at 24-18 and 24-19, but got no closer, suffering a tough 25-19 defeat to Stanford in the first frame to fall behind 1-0 in the match.
First Set Notables:
- Lukes: Five kills (.500) and three digs
- Frohling: Five kills (.273) and one block assist
- Graduate setter Gabby Blossom: 16 assists and three digs
- Redshirt senior libero Annie Benbow: Three digs
Second Set - No. 3 San Diego, 25-22
- San Diego began set two on another 3-1 run before Stanford answered with a run of its own to take a 6-4 lead.
- The Cardinal's advantage stretched to as many as five as the set progressed, then a 4-0 Torero run out of a USD timeout cut Stanford's lead to just one at 10-9, forcing the Cardinal to use a timeout of its own.
- After a bit of back-and-forth play, a service ace from junior libero/defensive specialist Madi Allen pushed San Diego ahead at 15-14, and it wouldn't trail again.
- A combo block from Edwards and Frohling brought the frame to set point at 24-20, then Stanford climbed back within two at 24-22 with back-to-back kills.
- Blackwell followed with a clutch kill of her own to seal a 25-22 San Diego win in Saturday's second set, tying the match at one frame apiece.
Second Set Notables:
- Blackwell: Five kills (.833) and two block assists
- Frohling: Four kills (.222) and a block assist
- Edwards (.375) and Lukes (.100): Three kills apiece
- Stoner: Two kills (1.000), one dig, and two block assists
- Blossom: 14 assists, one dig, and one block assist
- Benbow: Four digs
- Allen: One service ace
Third Set - No. 5 Stanford, 25-19
- For the third consecutive set, San Diego began the third frame on a 3-1 run (this time on back-to-back kills from Frohling and one more from Blackwell), but Stanford again had an answer for the Toreros' early surge.
- After a combo block from Stoner and Lukes made it 6-3 in USD's favor, the Cardinal proceeded to tie it at eight points apiece on a kill, then took a 9-8 lead on a service ace.
- San Diego never led again, and eventually suffered a 25-19 defeat in set three to fall behind 2-1 in the match.
Third Set Notables:
- Edwards: Five kills (.375) and a block assist
- Frohling: Four kills (.429), a dig, and a block assist
- Blackwell: Three kills (.429) and two block assists
- Blossom: 13 assists
- Benbow: Four digs and an assist
Fourth Set - No. 3 San Diego, 25-23
- After a block assist from Blackwell and and Frohling capped a 4-1 San Diego run to began Saturday's fourth set, Lukes found her mark with a kill to make it 5-2.
- USD pushed its lead to five points as the frame went on at 10-5 with a combo block from Stoner and Edwards, an advantage they maintained a point later at 11-6 on a kill from Edwards.
- Stanford rallied to tie the set at 16 across the midpoint of the frame, then took an 18-17 lead on a USD service error.
- Three straight Cardinal kills put San Diego behind by two at 20-18 before a kill from Blackwell cut the deficit to just one.
- The Toreros traded points with Stanford down the stretch, with key contributions from Blackwell again, and Frohling to keep the Cardinal's lead to just one.
- After a Stanford attack error tied the fourth set at 23-23, back-to-back San Diego kills (Frohling and Lukes) sandwiched a Cardinal timeout to earn the Toreros a striking 25-23 win, pushing the match to a decisive fifth set with the score tied 2-2.
Fourth Set Notables:
- Lukes: Seven kills (.190) and a dig
- Edwards: Five kills (.500), a dig, and a block assist
- Frohling: Four kills (.400, an assist, and a block assist
- Blackwell: One kill (.250), and one block assist
- Blossom: 13 assists, and three digs
- Allen: Seven digs
- Benbow: Five digs and two assists
Fifth Set - No. 3 San Diego, 15-9
- USD fell behind 1-0 to open up Saturday's fifth and final set but quickly responded with back-to-back kills from Frohling and Lukes to make it 2-1 in its favor.
- A service ace from Frohling kept her team up by two at 7-5, then Stoner and Edwards teamed up for a combo block to make it 9-6.
- Back-to-back points from Stanford on a kill and a block assist pulled the Cardinal within one at 9-8, prompting a San Diego timeout.
- Stanford proceeded to tie the match at nine after the break, but the Toreros held strong, immediately answering the Cardinal's surge with a kill from Lukes to jump back ahead at 10-9.
- San Diego wouldn't trail again. Led by five consecutive gutsy serves from junior setter Alex Hoglund, the Toreros finished the fifth set on a 6-0 run.
- Edwards made it 11-9 with a kill, then she, Blackwell, and Blossom teamed up for a combo block to move the score to 12-9.
- Edwards again found her mark a point later to push USD's late lead to four points at 13-9, then back-to-back kills from Blackwell sealed the biggest win in San Diego volleyball history so far, pushing the Toreros to a 15-9 win in the fifth set and a 3-2 win over one-seed Stanford in the match to advance USD to its first-ever Final Four.
Fifth Set Notables:
- Lukes: Three kills (.400) and two digs
- Edwards: Two kills (.000) and two block assists
- Blackwell: Two kills (1.000) and a block assist
- Stoner: One kill (1.000), a service ace, and a block assist
- Frohling: One kill (.000)
- Blossom: Eight assists and a block assist
- Benbow: Two digs and an assist
- Allen and Hoglund: One dig apiece
TORERO TIDBITS
- Lukes led the Toreros with 20 kills while hitting .185, also adding 11 digs and a block assist
- Frohling (.308) and Edwards (.293) and both tallied 18 kills.
- Frohling added an assist, a service ace, two digs, and four block assists, while Edwards had a dig and seven block assists.
- Blackwell was next with 14 kills while hitting .583, also adding a dig and seven block assists.
- Stoner had three kills (-.125), two digs, and five block assists.
- Blossom had a season-high 64 assists to go with seven digs and two block assists.
- Benbow had a team-high 18 digs, also adding six assists.
- Allen was just behind with 12 digs of her own and a service ace.
- Freshman libero/defensive specialist Olivia Bennett had three digs, and Hoglund had one.
- USD has now won a program-record 28 consecutive matches dating back to September 3rd's sweep of No. 8 Ohio State in Louisville as part of the Cardinal Classic.
UP NEXT
The Toreros are back in action on Thursday, December 18 in Omaha, Nebraska with a NCAA Final Four matchup against one-seed No. 1 Texas.