No. 3 (2) San Diego (28-1, 18-0 WCC)  •  No. 15 (3) Kentucky (22-7, 15-3 SEC)

December 8 | Maples Pavilion (7,233) • Palo Alto, California

Television  •  ESPNU | Live Statistics  • NCAA.com

Social  •  Facebook.com/USDVolleyball  •  Twitter.com/USDVolleyball  •  Instagram.com/USDVolleyball

PALO ALTO, Calif. — After winning back-to-back postseason matches at the Jenny Craig Pavilion for the first time since 2013 last week, second-seeded No. 3 San Diego volleyball (29-1, 18-0 WCC) will continue play in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday with a Sweet 16 matchup against three-seed No. 15 Kentucky (22-7, 15-3 SEC) at Stanford's Maples Pavilion.

Thursday night's match is set to begin at 5:00 p.m. PST, and will be televised nationally on ESPNU with Paul Sunderland (Play-By-Play) and Missy Whittemore (Analyst) on the call.

Live statistics will be available on NCAA.com.

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY 

• This year's appearance in the NCAA Tournament is the 26th in USD history. The Toreros have advanced to the postseason 25 times in the last 27 years and are 23-25 all-time in NCAA Tournament matches.

• USD has now reached an NCAA Regional Semifinal (Sweet 16) on five occasions: 2004, 2006, 2013, 2018, and 2022.

• Each of those Sweet 16 appearances have come under head coach Jennifer Petrie, who has advanced USD to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last 13 seasons (21 total NCAA Appearances) while amassing a 476-164 (.743) record.

• USD's most recent appearance in the tournament prior to this season came last December in Austin, Texas at the University of Texas' Gregory Gymnasium. The Toreros fell in the first round by a score of 3-0 to Rice.

• San Diego's most recent NCAA Tournament win prior to this season came on April 14, 2021 as part of the modified 2020-2021 schedule, a 3-0 USD win over  Texas A&M - Corpus Christi in Omaha, Nebraska in the first round.

• San Diego has never advanced through the Sweet 16 into the Elite Eight.

• This year's No. 2 seed is the highest in program history, besting the previous high of No. 9, which was assigned in 2013.

HISTORIC RUN CONTINUES

• San Diego enters Thursday night's action on a 26-match win streak, the longest in program history and the longest active streak in NCAA Division I.

• USD's win over Saint Mary's on November 10 pushed the Toreros to 20 wins in a row, surpassing the previous mark of 19 that had been set twice (1997 and 2004).

• 1997's team went 26-4 (13-1 WCC) and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament under former head coach Sue Snyder.

• 2004's squad finished 24-5 (14-0 WCC) and reached an NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinal in head coach Jennifer Petrie's sixth season at the helm in San Diego.

HOW SWEEP IT IS

• USD has swept 19 of its 30 matches in 2022, including sweeps in 13 of 18 WCC matches.

• The Toreros' 25-8 win over San Francisco in the third set on October 6 marked San Diego's largest margin of victory so far this season (17 points), besting USD's 14-point, 25-11 win in the second set of its sweep of Saint Mary's in Moraga on October 15.

• USD swept all but five WCC matches and 11 overall contests so far this season.

• Just nine teams (No. 6 Pitt, No. 3 Louisville, Utah, San Diego State, Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine, No. 18 BYU, Northern Colorado, and No. 24 Washington State) have taken a set from the Toreros in 2022.

SAN DIEGO SWEEPS IN 2022

• August 27 at Texas A&M

• August 28 vs. RV Hawaii (neutral site)

• September 3 vs. No. 8 Ohio State (neutral site)

• September 9 vs. SMU

• September 9 vs. UConn

• September 16 vs. RV UCLA

• September 29 at Gonzaga*

• October 1 at Portland*

• October 6 vs. San Francisco*

• October 8 vs. Santa Clara*

• October 13 at Pacific*

• October 15 at Saint Mary's

• October 21 vs. No. 17 BYU*

• October 27 vs. Portland*

• October 29 vs. Gonzaga*

• November 3 at Santa Clara*

• November 5 at San Francisco*

• November 10 vs. Saint Mary's*

• November 12 vs. Pacific*       

*Denotes WCC opponent

BACK ATOP THE WCC

• San Diego volleyball on November 19 clinched the 12th West Coast Conference Championship in program history, beating Pepperdine 3-1 at the Firestone Fieldhouse to bring home the WCC trophy for the first time since 2019.

• San Diego's 2022 WCC Championship secured the Toreros a berth to the NCAA Tournament for the 13th consecutive season, and marked the 26th postseason appearance in program history.

PERFECT

• With a decisive 3-1 sweep at No. 18 BYU on November 22, San Diego secured a perfect 18-0 record in WCC play.

• It's just the second time in program history that USD has gone undefeated in WCC matches after the 2004 team went 14-0 (24-5 overall) before advancing to San Diego's first-ever regional semifinal appearance.

ANOTHER WEEK IN THE NATION'S TOP 3

• USD remained in the nation's top three teams on November 28, checking in at No. 3 in the second-to-last AVCA Division I Women's Coaches Poll of 2022.

• It's the second time this season that the Toreros have been ranked No. 3 (October 24).

• San Diego tied the highest ranking in program history on October 31 when it reached No. 2 in the country for just the second time ever. USD held strong at No. 2 for four consecutive weeks (October 31 to November 21) before falling back to No. 3 on November 28. 

• Prior to 2022 the Toreros had been ranked No. 2 just once before: on September 16, 2013. USD won the West Coast Conference that year and was one of four teams in program history to reach an NCAA Regional Semifinal before finishing with a final record of 26-4 (16-2 WCC).

• San Diego, which got as high as No. 19 last season, began 2022 at No. 25 (preseason) and moved up in each subsequent poll before sticking at No. 4 in five consecutive weeks from September 19 to October 17.

• USD continued to move up on October 24, when it ascended to No. 3. Another rise to No. 2 followed on October 31, where San Diego remained until November 28.

• That week marked the first time all season that USD had dropped in the AVCA Top 25.

• The Toreros have been nationally ranked in each of their last 25 seasons, including 16 Top 5 rankings and 31 total placements in the nation's Top 10.

USD IN THE 2022 AVCA TOP 25 - WEEK BY WEEK

Preseason (August 15)  ............................................................................ No. 25

Week One (August 29) ..............................................................................No. 15

Week Two (Sept. 5) ...................................................................................No. 12

Week Three (Sept. 12).................................................................................No. 8

Week Four (Sept. 19)  .................................................................................No. 4

Week Five (Sept. 26)  ..................................................................................No. 4

Week Six (October 3) ..................................................................................No. 4

Week Seven (October 10) ...........................................................................No. 4

Week Eight (October 17) .............................................................................No. 4

Week Nine (October 24)..............................................................................No. 3

Week Ten (October 31)................................................................................No. 2

Week 11 (November 7)................................................................................No. 2

Week 12 (November 14)..............................................................................No. 2

Week 13 (November 21)..............................................................................No. 2

Week 14 (November 28)...................................................................No. 3

USD'S HIGHEST ALL-TIME AVCA TOP 25 RANKINGS

1.  No. 2 - November 21, 2022, November 14, 2022, November 7, 2022, October 31, 2022 and September 16, 2013 (Five times)

2.  No. 3 -  Current Ranking - November 28, 2022 and October 24, 2022

3.  No. 4 - Sept. 19, Sept. 26, Oct. 3, Oct. 10, and October 17, 2022 (Five times)

4.  No. 5 - October 3, 2016 - October 24, 2016 (Four times)

5.  No. 6 - September 26, 2016

6.  No. 7 - September 19, 2016

7.  No. 8 - Seven times (Once this season, six times in 2013)          

        • Most recent: September 12, 2022

8.   No. 9 - Six times (four in 2013, two in 2017)          

        • Most recent: November 27, 2017

9. No. 10 - September 12, 2016

RANKED TEAMS ON USD'S 2022 SCHEDULE SO FAR

• No. 6 Pitt - August 26 (3-2 USD win)

• No. 3 Louisville - September 2 (3-1 USD loss)

• No. 8 Ohio State  - September 3 (3-0 USD win)
• No. 17 Pepperdine - September 22 (3-1 USD win)
• No. 17 BYU - October 21 (3-0 USD win) • No. 18 BYU - November 22 (3-1 USD win)
• No. 24 Washington State - December 2 (3-1 USD Win)

TOTAL: 6-1, 2-1 against AVCA Top 10

• Hawaii, which the Toreros swept on August 28, Utah, which San Diego beat 3-2 on September 10, UCLA, which San Diego swept on September 16, and Pepperdine, which the Toreros beat 3-1 in Malibu on November 19 to clinch the 2022 WCC Championship, were all receiving votes at the time USD played them, receiving 48, 50, 44, and six votes in those weeks, respectively.

• San Diego is 6-1 against ranked teams this season and is 2-1 against the AVCA's Top 10.

OFFENSIVE PRECISION

• Led by six players hitting .270 or better, San Diego volleyball has posted a strong .292 team hitting percentage through 30 games so far in 2022, a mark that ranks 9th nationally.

• Junior middle blocker Leyla Blackwell leads all USD hitters with a .354 average, followed by senior opposite/setter Grace Frohling (.326), sophomore middle blocker Haylee Stoner (.302), redshirt senior middle blocker Gabby Goddard (.290), graduate outside hitter Breana Edwards (.275), and redshirt senior outside hitter Katie Lukes (.271).

•That group has combined for 1,406 of the Toreros' 1,438 total kills so far this season.

DYNAMIC DEFENSE
• San Diego has ranked among the country's leaders in overall defense in 2022, limiting opponents to a minuscule .154 hitting percentage that leads the WCC and ranks ninth nationally.

• USD's average of 2.76 blocks per set leads the WCC and ranked seventh nationally.

JENNIFER PETRIE NAMED AVCA PACIFIC SOUTH, WCC COACH OF THE YEAR
• After leading USD to the best regular-season performance of her 24-year USD career thus far, head coach Jennifer Petrie was named both the AVCA Pacific South (December 6) and West Coast Conference Coach of the Year (November 28).

• It's Petrie's third AVCA Pacific South Region Coach of the Year honor and her seventh career West Coast Conference Coach of the Year selection.

• She has led USD to a program-best 29-1 (.967) overall record and a perfect 18-0 performance in West Coast Conference play so far in 2022, making the Toreros one of just three teams to go undefeated in conference play (Wright State, Western Kentucky).

• San Diego has set a school record with 26 consecutive wins and counting this season, good for the best winning percentage (.967) and longest active win streak (26 matches) in the country as of Thursday.

• This season saw Petrie mentor the 2022 AVCA Pacific South Region Player of the Year (Gabby Blossom), the WCC Player of the Year (Katie Lukes), the WCC Setter of the Year (Gabby Blossom), and the WCC Libero of the Year (Annie Benbow) in addition to three AVCA Pacific South All-Region Team selections (Blossom, Lukes, and Grace Frohling), four All-WCC First Team selections (Leyla Blackwell, Blossom, Frohling, and Lukes), two All-WCC Second Team selections (Annie Benbow and Breana Edwards), an AVCA Pacific South All-Region Honorable Mention (Blackwell), and an All-WCC Honorable Mention (Haylee Stoner).

GABBY BLOSSOM NAMED AVCA PACIFIC SOUTH PLAYER/WCC SETTER OF THE YEAR

• Blossom, a graduate setter, is the first San Diego player to be named the AVCA Pacific South Region Player of the Year and was also named to the 2022 AVCA Pacific South All-Region Team, the 2022 WCC Setter of the Year, and to and the 2022 All-WCC First Team. She leads both USD and the WCC with an average of 11.28 assists per set in 2022, a mark that ranks ninth nationally. Her 1,184 total assists in 2022 also leads USD and the WCC (34th nationally).

• Under Blossom's direction, the USD offense has hit .292  as a group this year, which places them second in the conference and ninth in the country. Blossom, who on November 7 became the only setter to earn WCC Offensive Player of the Week honors this year, has also racked up 272 digs, 44 blocks (two solo), and 16 kills in 2022.

• She was named the Texas A&M Invitational MVP on August 28, a Cardinal Classic All-Tournament Team member on September 4, the USD Invitational MVP on September 12, and reached 4,000 career assists on October 27, making her one of just three players to reach that milestone in a Torero uniform.

KATIE LUKES NAMED WCC PLAYER OF THE YEAR, TO AVCA PACIFIC SOUTH ALL-REGION TEAM

• Lukes, a redshirt senior outside hitter, earned AVCA Pacific South All-Region honors after becoming the 10th Torero in program history to be named the WCC Player of the Year and USD's first conference player of the year since 2017, when setter Kristen Gengenbacher earned the honor.

• The San Clemente, California native has set forth the finest season of her USD career thus far in 2022, totaling a team-high 387 kills and 3.72 kills per set while hitting .271 through 30 matches (104 sets), continuing her nearly five-year tenure as one of the WCC's most fearsome offensive players.

• Twice named the WCC Offensive Player of the Week (September 19 and October 24), she has tallied 15 or more kills on 13 occasions, led USD in kills 18 times, and was tied for the team lead in kills twice. To go with her potent offense, Lukes has also added 14 assists, 13 service aces, 198 digs, and 56 total blocks (two solo).

• Lukes, who was also named to the All-WCC First Team, was a 2021 AVCA Pacific South All-Region selection, a 2021 All-WCC First Team selection, a 2021 WCC All-Academic First Team selection, a two-time All-WCC Second Team selection (2019, 2020-21, and a member of the 2018 All-WCC Freshman Team in addition to three career WCC Offensive Player of the Week honors. She reached the 1,200-kill mark earlier this season and with 1,320 for her career, she currently has the eighth-most all-time at USD.

ANNIE BENBOW NAMED WCC LIBERO OF THE YEAR

• Benbow, a redshirt senior, is the first Torero to be named WCC Libero of the Year since the award was instituted in 2019 and was also named to the All-WCC Second Team. She leads USD with 391 total digs and an average of 3.72 digs per set in 2022, marks that rank fourth in the WCC.

• The WCC Defensive Player of the Week on October 24, she has also added 85 assists this year. Benbow was named to the 2022 All-WCC Preseason Team on August 24, and was a 2021 All-WCC First Team member and a 2019 All-WCC Honorable Mention prior to 2022.

• On November 17, she became San Diego's all-time digs leader, passing Hunter Jennings' (2013-16) mark of 1,489. She enters Thursday night's action with 1,546.

GRACE FROHLING NAMED TO AVCA PACIFIC SOUTH ALL-REGION/ALL-WCC FIRST TEAM

• Frohling, a senior opposite/setter, was named to the AVCA Pacific South All-Region/All-WCC First team after a well-rounded 2022 campaign that has seen her tally 319 kills (3.04 K/S) while hitting .326 to go with 12 assists, 33 service aces, 96 block assists (six solo), and 89 digs.

• She was named to the All-WCC Preseason Team on August 24, the Texas A&M All-Tournament Team on August 28, the WCC Offensive Player of the Week on August 29, was the AVCA National Player of the Week on August 30, was named to the Cardinal Classic All-Tournament Team on September 4, and was named to the USD Invitational All-Tournament Team on September 12.

• She reached the 1,000-kill mark on October 1 and has achieved the following career accolades:

• 2021 AVCA Pacific South-All-Region selection

• 2019 AVCA All-America Honorable Mention

• 2019 AVCA Pacific South Region Freshman of the Year

• 2019 AVCA All-Region Honorable Mention

• Four-time All-WCC First Team selection (2019, 2020-21, 2021, 2022)

• 2020-21 WCC All-Academic First Team selection

• 2021 WCC All-Academic Honorable Mention

• 2019 WCC Freshman of the Year

• 2019 WCC All-Freshman Team honoree

• Selected to 2020 U.S. Collegiate National Team-Anaheim roster

LEYLA BLACKWELL NAMED AVCA PACIFIC SOUTH ALL-REGION HONORABLE MENTION, TO ALL-WCC FIRST TEAM

• Blackwell continued her reign as the West Coast Conference's most dominant defensive player in 2022, entering Thursday night's action with a league-leading with 157 total blocks and a WCC-high 1.50 blocks per set to go with 21 solo blocks.

• The junior middle blocker has also added 202 kills (1.92 K/S) while hitting .354.

• Blackwell was named to the All-WCC Preseason Team on August 24, was named to the All-WCC First Team in 2021 and is a five-time WCC Defensive Player of the Week.

BREANA EDWARDS NAMED TO ALL-WCC SECOND TEAM

• Edwards, a graduate outside hitter, earned an AVCA Pacific South All-Region Honorable Mention and All-WCC second team honors alongside Benbow after notching 336 total kills and 3.33 kills per set through 30 games so far this season, which ranks second on the USD roster behind Lukes.

• She has hit .275 across 101 sets, and has added an assist, a service ace, and 51 total blocks (10 solo). She became one of just four Toreros to reach 1,500 kills in a USD uniform on November 10.

• Edwards totaled 35 kills while hitting .416 (4.38 K/S) in the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament last week against Northern Colorado and Washington State, including a team season-high 23 on Friday in USD's 3-1 win over the Cougars at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

HAYLEE STONER NAMED ALL-WCC HONORABLE MENTION

• Stoner, a sophomore middle blocker, was named an All-WCC Honorable Mention after posting a dynamic defensive campaign behind Blackwell, one that has seen her record 87 total blocks (12 solo) for an average of 1.04 blocks per set.

• She also added 147 kills while hitting .302 in 2022 for an average of 1.50 kills per set, nine assists, 10 service aces, and 35 digs.

• Stoner was named to the All-WCC Freshman Team in 2021 and is a two-time WCC Defensive Player of the Week.

USD 2022 AWARDS BREAKDOWN

Preseason:

2022 All-WCC Preseason Team: Annie Benbow, Leyla Blackwell, Grace Frohling, Katie Lukes

Midseason:

WCC Offensive Player of the Week: Grace Frohling (8/29), Katie Lukes (9/19, 10/24), Gabby Blossom (11/7)

WCC Defensive Player of the Week: Leyla Blackwell (8/29 and 11/14), Haylee Stoner (9/26 and 11/23), Annie Benbow (10/24

AVCA National Player of the Week: Grace Frohling (8/30)

Texas A&M Invitational MVP: Gabby Blossom

Texas A&M Invitational All-Tournament Team: Grace Frohling

Cardinal Classic All-Tournament Team: Gabby Blossom and Grace Frohling

USD Invitational MVP: Gabby Blossom

USD Invitational All-Tournament Team: Grace Frohling

Postseason:

WCC Player of the Year: Katie Lukes

WCC Coach of the Year: Jennifer Petrie

WCC Setter of the Year: Gabby Blossom

WCC Libero of the Year: Annie Benbow

All-WCC First Team: Leyla Blackwell, Gabby Blossom, Grace Frohling, Katie Lukes

All-WCC Second Team: Annie Benbow, Breana Edwards

All-WCC Honorable Mention: Haylee Stoner

AVCA Pacific South Coach of the Year: Jennifer Petrie

AVCA Pacific South All-Region Player of the Year: Gabby Blossom

AVCA Pacific South All-Region Team: Gabby Blossom, Grace Frohling, Katie Lukes

AVCA Pacific South All-Region Honorable Mention: Leyla Blackwell

ACES FOR ALLEN

• Junior libero Madi Allen is one ace shy of the USD lead with 32 service aces so far in 2022 (Frohling, 33).

• Allen, a native of nearby Temecula, California who attended Great Oak High School, has also tallied 177 digs, which rank fourth amongst her teammates, as well as 23 assists and three kills.

• She joined USD in the offseason from conference rival BYU, where she totaled 570 digs, 211 assists, 53 points, 47 service aces, and six kills across 163 total sets with the Cougars, earned three WCC Defensive Player of the Week honors and was selected to the All-WCC Second Team as a freshman in 2021, and played in six NCAA Tournament matches, including a Sweet 16 appearance in 2021.

• On October 21 she matched up with her former team for the first time and set forth a dynamic performance, totaling a season-high 12 digs and a pair of assists in San Diego's sweep of No. 17 BYU.

• She added another eight digs, a service ace, and a kill in the two teams' second meeting of 2022 in Provo on November 22.

ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST KENTUCKY

• Thursday night will mark the first-ever matchup between San Diego and Kentucky

HOW THEY GOT HERE

• San Diego advanced to the fifth Sweet 16 in program history last week after beating both Northern Colorado and seven-seed No. 24 Washington State 3-1 in the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament at the JCP. It marked the first time USD had hosted postseason matches at home since 2013.

• The Toreros remain undefeated (6-0) in home NCAA Tournament matches.

December 1: No. 3 San Diego 3, Northern Colorado 1

• First Set - No. 3 San Diego, 25-21

• Second Set - No. 3 San Diego, 25-14

• Third Set - Northern Colorado - 25-21

• Fourth Set - No. 3 San Diego - 25-11

Notable:

• Blackwell led USD with a career-high 17 kills and .739 hitting percentage.

• She also added one assist, a solo block , and a match-high seven block assists.

• Edwards and Lukes each tallied 12 kills, with Edwards hitting .367 and Lukes hitting .175.

• Edwards had three digs, a solo block and a block assist to go with her 12 kills, while Lukes added nine digs.

• Frohling was next with 10 kills (.286), two digs, and six block assists.

• Stoner recorded five kills (.182), a dig, and a solo block.

• Blossom notched 49 assists, one service ace, nine digs, and a block assist.

• Benbow led the match with 19 digs, also chipping in a service ace and an assist.

• Allen added four digs and tied the match high with two service aces.

December 2: No. 3 San Diego 3, No. 24 Washington State 1

• First Set -  No. 3 San Diego, 25-19

• Second Set - No. 3 San Diego, 25-22

• Third Set - No. 24 Washington State, 25-21

• Fourth Set - No. 3 San Diego, 25-15

Notable:

• Edwards led the match with a season-high 23 kills while hitting a team-best .447, the most kills by a San Diego player in any match so far this season.

• She also added a dig and two block assists.

• Frohling was just behind with 17 kills of her own while hitting .441 to go with a match-high three service aces, six digs, and five block assists.

• Lukes had 11 kills (.125), an assist, and 12 digs.

• Stoner tallied six kills, an assist, two digs, one solo block, and three block assists.

• Blackwell had four kills (.053), two digs, two solo blocks, and a match-high six block assists.

• Blossom racked up 49 assists for the second consecutive match, also adding a service ace, a kill, 12 digs, and two block assists.

• She has tallied 30 assists or more in 27 of San Diego's 30 matches in 2022, including 40 or more on 14 occasions, and 50 or more three times.

• Benbow recorded 13 digs to go with a service ace and five assists.

• Allen tallied seven digs and two service aces, and Bennett was one dig shy of her career-high with six and contributed two assists.

• USD has now won a program-record 26 consecutive matches dating back to September 3rd's sweep of No. 8 Ohio State in Louisville as part of the Cardinal Classic.