PALO ALTO, Calif. — Second-seeded No. 3 San Diego volleyball (30-1, 18-0 WCC) on Thursday night reached heights previously unseen in program history, dominating three-seed No. 15 Kentucky (22-8, 15-3 SEC) with a decisive 3-0 sweep at the Maples Pavilion in the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 to advance to the Toreros' first-ever Regional Final (Elite Eight).

USD took the first set 25-22, the second 25-19, and the third by a 25-18 margin to secure its 20th sweep of 2022.

Graduate outside hitter Breana Edwards led a well-rounded offensive attack for San Diego, tallying a match-high 13 kills while hitting .267 to help her team out-hit the Wildcats .327 to .127.

Junior middle blocker Leyla Blackwell, sophomore middle blocker Haylee Stoner, and senior opposite/setter Grace Frohling paced the San Diego defense with four block assists apiece.

The 3-0 victory marks the Toreros' first in five total NCAA Regional Semifinal appearances, their program record 27th in a row, and their 30th of 2022, the most of any team in San Diego volleyball history.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set - No. 3 San Diego, 25-22

• USD overcame an early 3-0 deficit and tied Thursday night's first frame at five points apiece on a combo block from Frohling and Stoner.
• A kill from Stoner followed to give San Diego its first lead of the evening at 7-6.
• Back-and-forth play came next, with Stoner notching a service ace a few points later to keep things knotted at 10-10.
• Blackwell chipped in a solo block to push San Diego ahead at 11-10, and the Toreros didn't trail again in set one.
• The USD lead stretched to as many as five down the stretch at 22-17 on a kill from Edwards before the Wildcats climbed back within two at 23-21 on a service ace.
• Frohling and Lukes proceeded to close out the frame with a pair of kills, earning USD a 25-22 win in Thursday night's first set to jump ahead 1-0 over Kentucky in the match.

First Set Notables:

• Edwards: Five kills (.231) and one dig
• Frohling: Four kills (.375), one block assist
• Lukes: Four kills (.333), two digs, and one block assist
• Stoner: Two kills (.667), one block assist, and one service ace
• Blackwell: Two kills (.000), one block assist, and one solo block
• Blossom: 15 assists and four digs
• Freshman libero/defensive specialist Olivia Bennett: Five digs
• Redshirt senior libero Annie Benbow: Four digs
• Junior libero/defensive specialist Madi Allen: Two digs

Second Set - No. 3 San Diego, 25-19

• USD again fell behind to open up the second set — this time by a 2-0 margin — but quickly rallied to establish another lead.
• Kills from Edwards and Frohling sandwiched a combo block from Edwards and Blackwell, giving San Diego a 5-2 advantage.
• Blackwell doubled down with a kill of her own to stretch it to three at 6-3, then three straight San Diego blocks (Stoner and Lukes X2 followed by Stoner and Frohling) pushed USD's lead to five points at 10-5, prompting a Kentucky timeout.
• Back-to-back kills from Frohling and Lukes followed to give the Toreros their largest advantage of the set at 12-6.
• Kentucky cut the deficit to just two points down the stretch at 21-19, but San Diego finished strong with a 3-0 run (a Frohling kill, a Blackwell kill, and an Edwards kill) to secure a 25-19 win in set two and earn a commanding 2-0 lead over the Wildcats in the match.

Second Set Notables:

• Lukes: Five kills (.714), one assist, two digs, and one block assist
• Frohling: Five kills (.571) and two block assists
• Edwards: Four kills (.091), one dig, and one block assist
• Blackwell: Two kills (.667) and a block assist
• Stoner: One kill (.500), and three block assists
• Blossom: 11 assists and four digs

Third Set: No. 3 San Diego, 25-18

• Thursday night's third and final set began with back-and-forth play, then three straight kills from Edwards, Blackwell, and Frohling pushed San Diego ahead at 11-7.
• A combo block from Blackwell and Lukes made it a five-point set at 15-10, then Stoner and Lukes found their her mark with back-to-back kills of their own to put USD up by six at 17-11 and prompt a Kentucky timeout.
• Edwards hammered home a late kill to bring the frame to set point at 24-18, then Blackwell finished it and sent San Diego to the Elite Eight for the first time ever with a kill to give the Toreros a 25-18 win in set three and a clean 3-0 sweep of Kentucky in the match.

Third Set Notables:

• Edwards: Four kills (.667)
• Stoner: Three kills (.500)
• Blackwell: Three kills (.333) and two block assists
• Lukes: One kill, two digs, and one block assist
• Blossom: 13 assists and one dig
• Allen: Three digs
• Benbow: Two digs

TORERO TIDBITS

• Edwards led the match with 13 kills while hitting .267, also adding two digs and a block assist.
• Frohling was next with 11 kills (.333) to go with a dig and four block assists, which tied the team high.
• Lukes tallied 10 kills while hitting .400, also notching an assist, six digs, and three block assists.
• Blackwell had seven kills (.267) alongside USD's lone solo block and four block assists.
• Stoner recorded six kills (.556), San Diego's only service ace, and four block assists.
• Blossom set forth 39 assists to go with a match-high nine digs.
• Benbow and Bennett each added six digs, and Allen added five.
• USD's 3-0 sweep of Kentucky on Thursday night marked the Toreros' first-ever Sweet 16 win and advanced the program to its first-ever Regional Final (Elite Eight).
• USD has now won a program-record 27 consecutive matches dating back to September 3rd's sweep of No. 8 Ohio State in Louisville as part of the Cardinal Classic.

UP NEXT
San Diego will take on host/one-seed No. 5 Stanford on Saturday night at the Maples Pavilion. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m., and the match is set to be televised nationally on ESPNU.