SAN FRANCISCO — Four Toreros hit .350 or better on Saturday afternoon as San Diego volleyball (10-7, 6-1 WCC) earned its fifth West Coast Conference sweep of 2023, a 3-0 decision over San Francisco (8-11, 2-5 WCC) at War Memorial Gym.

The Toreros took the first and second sets by scores of 25-17, then held strong for a hard-fought 25-21 victory in the third.

Amber Stivrins led the match with 10 kills, helping USD out-hit the Dons .362 to .220. Haylee Stoner paced the San Diego defense with a game-high five blocks assists while also adding eight kills of her own.

USD has now won six of its first seven WCC matches of 2023.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set - San Diego, 25-17

• The Toreros began Saturday afternoon's first set strong, opening up the match with a 7-2 run that was punctuated by a service ace from Amber Stivrins.
• Madi Allen pushed USD's advantage to six with a service ace of her own before the Dons began to fight back and made it a three-point game at 11-8.
• Leyla Blackwell found her mark down the stretch to make it 20-13 in her team's favor, then kills from Haylee Stoner and Stivrins brought it to set point.
• A San Francisco attack error secured San Diego a victory in Saturday afternoon's first set, prevailing by a 25-17 margin as they pulled ahead 1-0 in the match.

Second Set - San Diego, 25-17

• The second set began with back-and-forth play, culminating in a 4-4 tie before a USF attack error and a Kylie Pries kill gave San Diego a 6-4 lead.
• Reigning WCC Offensive Player of the Week Isadora Tercariol notched a service ace later on to make it 10-7, but San Francisco got back within two at 11-9 after recording a kill and a solo block.
• A combo block from Stivrins and Stoner paired with a service ace from Olivia Bennett helped the Toreros create space down the stretch, making it 19-13 in San Diego's favor while prompting the Dons to take a timeout.
• The Toreros closed the frame on a 4-1 run to pull ahead 2-0 in the match, doing so via a combo block from Blackwell and Pries and two kills from Blackwell.

Third Set - San Diego, 25-21

• USD got out to a hot start in Saturday's third and final set, establishing a 3-1 lead courtesy of back-to-back kills from Stivrins and a San Francisco service error.
• The Dons quickly rallied to tie it, creating a flurry of deadlocks before Blackwell and Tercariol pushed their team back in front by two-point margin with a kill and a service ace that made it 12-10.
• San Francisco took a 15-14 lead on a solo block — prompting a Torero timeout — but both a kill and a service ace from Kylie Pries coming out of the break put USD back in front at 16-15.
• Another two-point San Diego surge — this time from a combo block from Nemo Beach and Stoner — maintained the Torero lead at 18-16 before the Dons took another timeout.
• Back-to-back kills from Blackwell and Stivrins followed, making it 21-17 in USD's favor while forcing one last San Francisco timeout.
• An error from the Dons brought the contest to set point before Beach found her mark to secure San Diego its sixth sweep of 2023.

TORERO TIDBITS

• Stivrins led the match with 10 kills while hitting .381.
• Blackwell was just behind with nine kills while hitting a robust .476, also adding an assist and a block assist.
• Pries hit just .167 but tied Blackwell with nine kills alongside nine digs, two blocks, and a service ace.
• Beach hit a team-high .538 while adding eight kills.
• Stoner matched Beach with eight kills of her own to go with a team-high five blocks, a service ace, and a dig. 
• Tercariol paced the match with 35 assists, also adding four digs, two block assists, and two service aces.
• Allen had a match-high 13 digs, four assists, and a service ace.

UP NEXT
The Toreros are back in action next Thursday (October 19) when they continue WCC play by hosting Portland for Military Appreciation Night in the Jenny Craig Pavilion. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m.