ATLANTA — Dominant performances from both Nemo Beach and Amber Stivrins on Saturday evening helped San Diego volleyball (4-5, 0-0 WCC) earn a hard-fought road win, beating Georgia (8-3, 0-0 SEC) by a 3-1 margin at O'Keefe Gym as part of the Georgia Tech Classic.

Beach hit .366 as she racked up a career-high 18 kills in her finest college match yet, while Stivrins added a double-double against her former team, totaling 14 kills and 13 digs.

After dropping the first set 25-23, the Toreros rallied to beat the Bulldogs in three straight frames, winning the second 25-21, prevailing in a remarkable 31-29 third set, and securing a 25-22 win in the fourth and final set.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set - Georgia, 25-23

• Saturday afternoon's first frame began with back-and-forth play before USD took a 7-6 lead on a kill from Stivrins.
• San Diego stretched its lead to five points on two occasions (17-12 and 19-14, with a pair of service aces (Kylie Pries and Olivia Bennett), but as the set wound down, the Bulldogs began to mount a comeback.
• Georgia evened the score at 20 on a Torero attack error, then surged ahead to take a 22-20 lead by completing a 4-0 run with a service ace.
• A combo block from Leyla Blackwell and Pries tied the score at 22-22 and a Georgia attack error put USD back ahead at 23-22 but San Diego couldn't hang on and fend off the comeback, suffering a 25-23 loss in Saturday evening's opening frame after the Bulldogs closed the set with a 3-0 run.

Second Set - San Diego, 25-21

• USD opened up Saturday evening's second set with a 3-1 surge, one that was punctuated by another block assist from Blackwell and Pries.
• A service ace from Pries put the Toreros up by six at 9-3 before the Bulldogs pulled within three later in the frame on a service ace of their own to cut their deficit to 15-12.
• Isadora Tercariol found her mark with a service ace to make it a five-point game at 20-15, but Georgia answered again with an ace, this time making it 22-18.
• After the Bulldogs pulled within two at 23-21, Beach and Pries teamed up for back-to-back points, notching a clutch kill and a service ace, respectively, to secure their team a 25-21 win in set two that evened the match score at 1-1.

Third Set - San Diego, 31-29

• Saturday's third-set marathon began with an early Georgia lead before Stivrins pushed USD back ahead by a 3-2 margin with a service ace.
• The Bulldogs tied it a point later and went back in front to create a lead that at one point stretched to as many as seven.
• Trailing 16-9, San Diego chipped away through the set's middle stages, eventually climbing back within three at 18-15 after back-to-back service aces from Madi Allen.
• USD continued to trail deep into the set, finally pulling even with Georgia again at the 22-22 mark when the Bulldogs committed an attack error.
• San Diego took its first lead since the 3-2 mark a point later when Leyla Blackwell hammered a kill, but Georgia immediately answered to tie it once again at 23-23.
• Blackwell brought the frame to set point at 25-24 with another kill, but the Bulldogs again responded to tie it, setting up a furious back-and-forth battle.
• Georgia proceeded to fend off set point three separate times, while the Toreros did so twice, culminating in a 29-29 tie after yet another kill from Blackwell.
• A Bulldog attack error put USD up 30-29, then Georgia's coaching staff was assessed a yellow and subsequent red card, which awarded the Toreros the set-clinching 31st point of the frame, putting USD up 2-1 in the match.

Fourth Set - San Diego, 25-22

• The Toreros scored first in Saturday's fourth and final set but was tied with Georgia early on.
• Punctuated by another service ace from Bennett, 4-0 USD run followed to put USD ahead by a score of 8-5.
• The Bulldogs tied it at 10 with a kill but another 4-0 Torero run again reestablished a San Diego lead, this time finishing with a service ace from Stivrins to make it 14-10.
• Georgia pulled within two at 22-20 on a service ace but got no closer, suffering a 25-20 loss to USD as the Toreros took set four by a 25-22 margin to earn a 3-1 comeback win in the match.

TORERO TIDBITS

• Beach paced the San Diego offense in Saturday with the strongest performance of her young college career, totaling a match-high 18 kills while hitting .366 and adding two digs and two block assists.
• Stivrins, who played for Georgia for three seasons from 2020-2022, turned in a dynamic performance against her former team, recording a double-double that featured 14 kills, 13 digs,  two service aces, three blocks (one solo), and an assist.
• Haylee Stoner led the Torero defense with a season-high six block assists while also adding four kills and a dig.
• Blackwell hit .391 while compiling nine kills alongside a dig and four block assists.
• Pries notched four service aces and had seven kills while hitting at a .476 clip in what marked her strongest offensive performance of 2023 thus far.
• Tercariol totaled 42 assists to go with 10 digs, a kill, a service ace, a block assist, and a solo block.
• Allen led the match with 20 digs while also contributing four assists and two service aces.
• Bennett added seven digs and two service aces.
• Between her 169 kills as a freshman at Louisville, her 692 kills in three seasons at Georgia, and her 104 kills as a Torero thus far in 2023, Stivrins enters tomorrow afternoon's match at No. 10 Georgia Tech with 979 kills, just 21 away from 1,000 for her college career.
• San Diego has now won four of its last five matches dating back to September 2nd's 3-0 sweep of Boston College.

UP NEXT
The Toreros will close out the Georgia Tech Classic tomorrow morning with a matchup against tournament host No. 10 Georgia Tech. First serve at O'Keefe Gym is set for 10:00 a.m. PST.