SAN DIEGO — San Diego volleyball fought hard to force a fourth set on Thursday night but could not overcome No. 24 Tennessee, dropping a tough 3-1 decision to the Lady Volunteers at the Jenny Craig Pavilion in its 2023 home opener before a crowd of 1,094.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set - No. 24 Tennessee, 25-17

• Thursday night's first set began with a back-and-forth battle, culminating in an early 6-6 tie.
• The Lady Volunteers jumped ahead 7-6 on back-to-back kills and led for the remainder of the set.
• USD pulled within five at 21-16 on a kill from Annika Hester but got no closer, suffering a 25-17 loss in Thursday's opening frame to fall behind 1-0 in the match.

Second Set - No. 24 Tennessee, 25-20

• San Diego started the second set strong, racing to a 3-1 lead after Stoner and Hester found their marks for kills.
• More back-and-forth play ensued after, leading to a 5-5 tie.
• Back-to-back Torero attack errors then gave Tennessee the lead, but the Toreros responded by closing a three-point gap with an Olivia Bennett service ace, making the score 13-12 in favor of the Lady Volunteers.
• Four straight San Diego points put USD ahead by a 16-15 margin at the set's midpoint, with the Toreros pulling ahead via a kill from Kylie Pries, a combo block from Haylee Stoner and Isadora Tercariol, and two kills from Amber Stivrins.
• Tennessee battled back to take a 17-16 lead, but Stivrins struck again with another kill to knot the score at 17.
• Three consecutive points from the Lady Volunteers then gave them a lead they wouldn't relinquish, earning Tennessee a 25-20 win in the second set that pushed it ahead by a 2-0 margin in the match.

Third Set - San Diego, 25-18

• The Toreros fell behind early to begin the second set but recovered to tie the score at four, doing so via a pair of kills from Hester, one more from Nemo Beach, and a Tennessee attack error.
• A 3-0 USD run — powered by a kill from Leyla Blackwell, a combo block from Hester and Blackwell, and a service ace from Stivrins — put the Toreros in front by a 9-8 margin, forcing a Tennessee timeout.
• Punctuated by service aces from Kate Galvin and Haylee Stoner, USD gradually built its lead across the middle stages of the second set, earning itself a commanding 21-13 advantage.
• The Lady Volunteers pulled within four on a late kill but saw their last-chance surge fall short, falling to the Toreros by a 25-18 margin in Thursday night's second frame as they got on the board to move the match score to 2-1.

Fourth Set - No. 24 Tennessee, 25-17

• Tennessee took an early lead in Thursday night's fourth and final frame and never looked back, jumping out to a six-point, 11-5 advantage before the Toreros began to chip away.
• A kill from Hester pulled USD within four at 14-10, then Stivrins kept it a four-point game with a kill of her own to make it 19-14.
• Pries notched a late kill to stave off match point but Tennessee responded with a kill of its own, securing a 25-17 win in the fourth set to beat San Diego 3-1 at the Jenny Craig Pavilion on Thursday night.

TORERO TIDBITS

• Hester set forth a strong performance in the loss, notching a career and team-high 11 kills.
• Setter Isadora Tercariol recorded a season-high 37 assists on Thursday, her most in a single match since she recorded 45 against Pepperdine on November 13, 2021.
• Libero Madi Allen set forth a career-high 24 digs, besting her previous 2023 mark of 16 that she set last weekend at Hawaii.
• Blackwell paced the USD defense with five block assists and also added 10 kills, just one behind Hester for the team lead.
• Stoner had a team-high two service aces.
• Thursday night's defeat to No. 24 Tennessee marked the Toreros' first loss at the Jenny Craig Pavilion since November 23, 2021, when they fell by a 3-1 margin to No. 3 BYU.

UP NEXT
San Diego is back in action on Saturday, when it wraps up play in the USD Invitational with a matchup against Boston College. First serve at the JCP is set for 5:00 p.m.