HONOLULU — A match-high 19 kills from Nemo Beach helped San Diego volleyball earn a hard-fought season-opening win over Utah State on Friday night, pushing the Toreros (1-0, 0-0 WCC) past the Aggies (0-1, 0-0 Mountain West) by a 3-2 margin as the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic got underway at the Stan Sheriff Center. 

USD dropped the first set 25-16, then prevailed in the next two periods by scores of 25-17 and 25-15. After falling 25-19 in set four, San Diego rallied for a 15-12 victory in the final frame to come out on top in the five-set thriller. 

The Toreros never led in a lopsided opening stanza in which they were out-hit .333 to .111. But San Diego rebounded quickly as the second set started, building a modest four-point, 15-11 lead as Isabel Clark, Kali Engeman, and BayLea Sparks found their marks on both offense and defense. A Utah State timeout a few points later after the USD lead began to swell was to no avail; Butler transfer Reece Bates added on with a service ace immediately after the break. Reigning WCC Setter of the Year Kylie Munday ripped off back-to-back service aces of her own down the stretch to bring things to set point, and after BayLea Sparks and Maya Kitna teamed up on a clutch combo block, the match was tied, 1-1.

Set three was more of the same, though USD established its lead earlier and in more decisive fashion. By the time Tatum Lane added her first service ace of the young season it was already 21-12 in San Diegos' favor, and a kill from Engeman a few minutes later stretched the Toreros' advantage even further. Two straight Aggie attack errors followed, putting USD up 2-1 in the match after winning the third set.

San Diego had its chance to close things out in four sets, pulling within two points late in the penultimate period when Beach hammered a kill home to make it 20-18. After USD scored just one more time in the set, however, the match headed to a decisive fifth frame. 

Two big kills from Beach paired with a handful of attack errors from USU helped the Toreros begin the fifth set with a 6-3 lead. USD held that advantage until a 3-0 Utah State run pushed the score to 11-10 in the Aggies' favor. Beach came up big again out of the ensuing timeout, tying things up at 11-11 when she came up with her 18th kill of the evening. She struck again a point later to make it 13-12 in her team's favor, then Maya Kitna delivered a well-timed kill to make it match point. Osunsanmi and Kitna came up big immediately afterwards, connecting on a match-winning combo block to seal the set by a score of 15-12 and the match by a score of 3-2.

NOTABLE

• Beach led the match with a .319 hitting percentage on Friday night, helping San Diego out-hit Utah State .250 to .154.
• Aided by a match-high eight blocks from BayLea Sparks, the Toreros out-blocked the Aggies 15 to 6.
• Fourteen kills from Clark complemented Beach's big night, Clark, the reigning WCC Freshman of the Year, also added eight digs.
• Kali Engeman hit a robust .667 in her Torero debut as she recorded eight kills.
• Munday picked up right where she left off a season ago, earning San Diego's first double-double of the season by totaling 41 digs, a tied-for-match-high three service aces, 11 digs, and a kill.
• Olivia Bennett led USD with 16 digs, and also contributed five assists.
• Friday night's win marked the Toreros' first in a season opener since August 26, 2022, when they defeated No. 6 Pitt 3-2 at the Texas A&M Invitational. 

UP NEXT
San Diego is back in action tomorrow evening, when it continues play in the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic with a matchup against Marquette. First serve against the Golden Eagles at the Stan Sheriff Center is again set for 7:45 PM PST.