COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Senior Grace Frohling turned in a career performance on Friday afternoon to power No. 25 San Diego volleyball (1-0, 0-0 WCC) to its biggest regular-season win in more than two years, racking up a game-high 19 kills as the Toreros toppled No. 6 Pitt (0-1, 0-0 ACC) by a score of 3-2 in Reed Arena as part of the Texas A&M Invitational.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set - (No. 25 San Diego, 25-23)

• San Diego's first kill of 2022 belonged to redshirt senior outside hitter Katie Lukes, and it knotted the score at three points apiece in a first set that was close from start to finish.
• USD grabbed its first lead of the afternoon a point later on an ace from Frohling, then sophomore middle blocker Haylee Stoner (Mission Hills High School) chipped in with her first kill of the season to make it 5-3.
• Pitt led by as many as three across the early stages of the set, but the Toreros were able to reel it back in near the midpoint, evening the score at 14 with another kill from Lukes.
• Though the two teams traded points throughout the final third of the fame, San Diego was forced to begin a last-chance comeback when the Panthers expanded their lead to four at 21-17.
• Graduate transfer (Indiana) Breana Edwards got things going with a kill, then junior middle blocker Leyla Blackwell (also an Indiana transfer) kept the line moving with a solo block.
• A kill from Frohling tied the score at 22 before a bad Pitt set pushed USD ahead by a 23-22 margin.
• USD didn't trail in the set again, sealing a 25-23 victory via a solo block from Blackwell and yet another kill from Frohling to pull ahead 1-0 in the match.

Second Set - (No. 6 Pitt, 25-13)

• San Diego tied the score at one with a kill from Blackwell but never led in the set.
• USD pulled within four on two occasions — at 12-8 and 13-9 — but could get no closer, dropping the frame 25-13 despite five kills from Edwards.

Third Set - (No. 25 San Diego, 25-17)

• The Toreros started hot thanks to a combo block from Frohling and Edwards, then proceeded to lead by scores of 2-1, 3-2, 4-2, 4-3, 5-3, and 6-5 before the Panthers evened things up at 6-6.
• A quick kill from Edwards put USD back in front at 7-6 and sparked another big San Diego run that was capped by a pair of Frohling kills for a 13-7 advantage.
• Pitt answered with two points to make it 14-9, but again the Toreros answered, running their lead out to 18-9 with a block assist from Stoner and Lukes.
• Another Edwards kill gave USD its biggest lead of the afternoon at 21-11 before San Diego fended off a last-chance Panthers comeback for a 25-17 set victory that put it ahead 2-1 in the match.

Fourth Set - (No. 6 Pitt, 26-24)

• The Toreros traded points back and forth with Pitt for nearly the entirety of the match's fourth frame, tying the score at one, two, three, four, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, and 24 before finally falling when a pair of Panther kills evened the match at two sets apiece.
• Lukes tallied a team-high five kills in the frame and both Edwards and Frohling added three more.

Fifth Set - (No. 25 San Diego, 15-8)

• In a decisive set in which they never trailed, the Toreros got things started with a kill from Frohling.
• A bad set from Pitt expanded the San Diego advantage to 6-3, then USD jumped ahead by a 12-5 margin after two kills from Stoner, one from Edwards, a service ace from junior outside hitter Kylie Pries, and a pair of errors from the Panthers.
• Pitt pulled within five at 13-8 but a key kill from Blackwell and an error from Pitt pushed San Diego to a 15-8 win in the set, earning the Toreros a thrilling 3-2 win over the nation's sixth-ranked team.

TORERO TIDBITS

• Frohling led the way for USD with a match-high 19 kills and .514 hitting percentage alongside three blocks.
• She was followed by Edwards, who added 16 kills of her own alongside a trio of digs and a pair of blocks .
• Lukes chipped in with 11 kills, six digs, and three blocks, and Stoner recorded eight kills, four digs, and two blocks.
• Blackwell highlighted the Toreros' defensive efforts, notching a game-high eight blocks to go with five kills and a dig.
• Pries set forth only one kill but had a service ace, and eight digs.
• Penn State graduate transfer setter Gabby Blossom tallied a match-best 53 assists to go with seven digs and a kill.
• Redshirt senior libero Annie Benbow racked up a match-high 21 digs to go with her two assists, and BYU transfer libero Madi Allen had an assist, a service ace and eight digs.
• No. 25 San Diego's 3-2 win over No. 6 Pitt on Friday is USD's first victory against a ranked opponent since September 9, 2021, when the Toreros took down No. 16 UCLA 3-2 at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
• San Diego's last victory over a Top 10 opponent prior to Friday came on October 19, 2019, when USD beat ninth-ranked conference rival BYU in Provo, also by a 3-2 margin.
• No. 6 Pitt is the highest-ranked opponent USD has defeated since the Toreros beat No. 1 USC on September 13, 2013 in the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
• Fans wishing to watch a video of Friday's win can do so here.
   

UP NEXT
The Toreros will continue play in the Texas A&M Invitational tomorrow afternoon with a matchup against host Texas A&M. First serve at Reed Arena is set for 11 a.m. PST.

The match is set to be televised nationally on the SEC Network.