SAN DIEGO — In her first start since the season opener, freshman
Emma Brewer turned in a 13-kill, 14-dig double-double, and San Diego (5-5, 0-0 WCC) beat crosstown rival San Diego State (5-5, 0-0 Pac-12) 25-20, 22-25, 25-16, 25-15 on Saturday night at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
San Diego hasn't lost to the Aztecs at home since 2003, and the Toreros have now won five straight meetings overall to push their all-time lead in the series to 36-24. Two nights after sweeping Arizona, they closed nonconference play with back-to-back wins.
Meghan Scholz finished with nine total blocks, the most by a Torero in a match this season, and San Diego held SDSU to .075 hitting while out-blocking the Aztecs 15.0-3.0. The Toreros hit .280, out-killed SDSU 50-40 and made 13 attack errors to the Aztecs' 29.
Up 3-2 in the first set, San Diego got a kill from Brewer and then won four straight points with her serving, including an ace and two blocks by
Kylie Munday and Scholz, to lead 8-2. The Toreros never trailed in the set. SDSU pulled within 20-18, but a
BayLea Sparks kill and a
Lauren Lynch ace stretched the lead back to four, and Brewer ended it with a kill.
Another Brewer service run, this one with her second ace, turned a 5-3 second-set deficit into a 7-5 lead, and San Diego was up 19-15 after a
Nemo Beach kill. SDSU closed on a 10-3 run from there, with Mila Gehlen putting down six kills over the final 11 points, to even the match.
Brewer had kills on the first two points of the third set, and
Kierstyn Barton served the Toreros to a 5-0 lead, capping the run with an ace. SDSU got within 7-6, but San Diego answered with a 15-6 run and hit .333 in the set while holding the Aztecs to .000. Barton had six kills on .625 hitting in the set, including the final point.
SDSU led 3-1 early in the fourth set before San Diego took the lead for good at 5-4, during a three-point run on Scholz's serve that included solo blocks by Beach and Sparks. Brewer's back-to-back kills made it 14-9, and Sparks stuffed two more hitters by herself as the Toreros finished the set with 7.0 blocks and held SDSU to -.079 hitting. Barton and Scholz combined on a block to reach match point, and an SDSU attack error ended it.
Barton hit .417 with a match-high 18 kills and added 11 digs for her third straight double-double. Munday made it three double-doubles on the night for San Diego, pairing 38 assists with 10 digs for her fifth of the season.
Lynch led all players with 18 digs and has at least 14 in each of San Diego's 10 matches this season. Brewer hit .440 with two aces and five block assists, and Beach added 10 kills.
A crowd of 1,072 turned out for the crosstown matchup.
UP NEXT
The defending WCC champion Toreros open West Coast Conference play at home against Saint Mary's on Thursday, Sept. 24, at 7 p.m.
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