SAN DIEGO — Led by 15 kills apiece from Grace Frohling and Katie Lukes, No. 4 San Diego volleyball hung tough on Saturday afternoon for its eight straight win, taking down Loyola Marymount 3-2 at the Jenny Craig Pavilion in a back-and-forth, hard-fought match.

The Toreros won the first two sets by scores of 28-26 and 25-18 before dropping the third and fourth frames by 34-32 and 25-21 margins. USD then regrouped for a 15-8 win in a decisive fifth set to secure the victory.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set - No. 4 San Diego, 28-26

• San Diego held an early lead over the Lions, then traded points with LMU up to a 9-9 tie after a kill from Frohling (senior opposite/setter).
• Loyola Marymount proceeded to jump ahead by as many as three through the set's middle stages before USD again reined the Lions in, tying the score once again at 14 on an LMU attack error.
• More back-and-forth play ensued enroute to one final tie at 17, then Frohling put the Toreros up for good with a kill to make it 18-17 in favor of USD.
• A service ace from junior libero/defensive specialist Madi Allen (Great Oak High School), three more kills from Frohling, and one kill apiece from Lukes (redshirt senior outside hitter), graduate outside hitter Breana Edwards (Indiana), and sophomore middle blocker Haylee Stoner (Mission High School) then sealed a 28-26 win for San Diego in the set, putting it up 1-0 in the match.

First Set Notables:

• Frohling: Seven kills (.600) and a dig
• Lukes: Four kills (.333)
• Graduate setter Gabby Blossom (Penn State): 11 assists and four digs
• Redshirt senior libero Annie Benbow: Four digs

Second Set - No. 4 San Diego, 25-18

• Set two on Saturday began in strong fashion for San Diego, as the Toreros opened up the frame with a 3-0 run that was facilitated by kills from Lukes and Stoner and a service ace from Benbow.
• LMU responded with a flurry of points of its own to take an early 5-4 lead, then Stoner leveled the score at 5-5 with a kill.
• A combo block from Edwards and Stoner followed to reestablish the USD advantage at 6-5, and San Diego wouldn't trail again.
• The Torero lead swelled to as many as five in the set's middle stages courtesy of a clutch kill from junior middle blocker Leyla Blackwell (La Jolla High School) at 14-9, then reached five points at 20-15 when Stoner found her mark.
• Back-to-back kills from Blackwell and Lukes brought the frame to set point at 24-17 before a Loyola Marymount service error closed things out, earning USD a 25-18 victory in Saturday's second set to push the Toreros to a commanding 2-0 advantage over the Lions in the match.

Second Set Notables:

• Stoner: Seven kills (.545), one service ace, one dig, one solo block, and two block assists
• Blossom: 11 assists, three digs, one block assist, and one kill
• Freshman libero/defensive specialist Olivia Bennett: Three digs

Third Set - Loyola Marymount, 34-32

• The Lions struck first for back-to-back points to open up a 2-0 lead, then San Diego responded with a 7-1 run that was punctuated with a Frohling service ace to establish a 7-3 advantage.
• USD's lead held fast throughout the early and middle stages of the set, swelling to as many as five at 20-15 after an LMU attack error.
• Loyola Marymount cut the San Diego advantage down to just one at 23-22 before a service error from the Lions advanced the frame to set point at 24-22.
• LMU proceeded to tie the set at 24, doing so again at 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, ahead of one final deadlock at 32.
• Despite the Toreros having Saturday's third frame at set point on seven different occasions, the Lions rallied to defeat USD by a remarkable 34-32 margin after a San Diego attack error, moving the match score to 2-1 in favor of the home team.

Third Set Notables:

• Edwards: Four kills (.154), two digs, one solo block, and one block assist
• Stoner: Three block assists
• Blossom: Eight assists, four digs, and two block assists
• Frohling: Two service aces, two digs, and two block assists
• Benbow: Seven digs

Fourth Set - Loyola Marymount, 25-21

• Frohling got USD on the board first in the fourth with back-to-back kills, but the Lions continued their scrappy play to create a 4-4 tie.
• A San Diego service error and attack error allowed LMU to forge ahead with a 6-4 lead, an advantage it held until USD answered back to tie it at 8-8 and 10-10.
• The Toreros created a bit of space through the set's midpoint after a Loyola Marymount service error at 13-11, but the distance was short-lived.
• LMU rallied for ties at 14 and 15 on a kill and a service error, then jumped back in front for a late lead that it would hold for the remainder of Saturday's fourth set.
• San Diego got within three down the stretch at 22-19 on a kill from Lukes but would get no closer, suffering a tough 25-21 defeat in the fourth that allowed Loyola Marymount to tie the match at two sets apiece and push the match to a decisive fifth frame.

Fourth Set Notables:

• Frohling: Four kills (.154), two digs, one solo block, and one block assist
• Blossom: Eight assists, three digs, and a solo block
• Blackwell and Edwards: One solo block

Fifth Set - No. 4 San Diego, 15-8

• San Diego came out hot in Saturday's fifth and final set, racing to a 5-1 lead behind two LMU attack errors, an LMU service error, and a pair of kills from Frohling and Lukes.
• Loyola Marymount got within one at 7-6 on a block, but got no closer.
• The Toreros created space and maintained it down the stretch, earning the final say in a brutal back-and-forth battle with two kills from Edwards, an LMU attack error, and a service ace from Blossom to secure a 15-8 win in the fifth and a 3-2 win in the match.

Fifth Set Notables:

• Edwards: Three kills (.143)
• Frohling: Two kills (.500) and a block assist
• Blackwell: One block assist and one solo block
• Blossom: Five assists, one service ace, and four digs
• Lukes: One kill and three digs

TORERO TIDBITS

• Frohling and Lukes led the way for USD on Saturday with 15 kills apiece, hitting a team-high .353 and .091, respectively.
• Frohling tallied two service aces, five digs, one solo block and four block assists, while Lukes tallied seven digs.
• Stoner set a new career high with 11 kills while hitting .308, also contributing a service ace, a dig, a solo block, and a match-high six block assists.
• Edwards was just behind with 10 kills (.062) and chipped in two digs, two solo blocks, and two block assists.
• Blackwell had six kills while hitting .250 and added two solo blocks and three block assists.
• Blossom totaled a team-high 43 assists, a service ace, a team-high 18 digs, one solo block, and three block assists. She has recorded 30 assists or more in each of the Toreros' 12 games so far in 2022.
• Benbow had 16 digs and six assists, and Allen added four digs and an assist of her own.
• USD out-hit LMU .198 to .185 and out-blocked the visitors 16 to 14.5
• San Diego has now won eight straight matches, a stint that dates back to September 3rd's sweep of then-No. 8 Ohio State in Louisville.

UP NEXT
The Toreros will continue West Coast Conference play on the road next week, traveling to Spokane, Washington to take on Gonzaga. First serve on Thursday at the Martin Centre is set for 7 p.m. PST.