Can’t stop winning

Volleyball wins three straight at USD invitational

TJ JOSEPH / ASST. SPORTS EDITOR / THE USD VISTA

The University of San Diego women’s volleyball team had a successful weekend at the USD Invitational, where they won three consecutive games. 

The Toreros started off their weekend with a home  opener against the Southern Methodist University (SMU) Mustangs. 

In the first set, the Toreros battled the Mustangs. They tied 11 times throughout the set, which led to a score of 20-20 for a  close finish  to the set. With the combinations of errors from the Mustangs and a kill from Grace Frohling, the Toreros took this set away 25-22. 

In the second set, the Toreros and Mustangs traded points early, tying 4-4. This pattern disappeared as the Toreros took off from this point by not allowing less than a five-point lead over the Mustangs. The lead continued to grow, as USD dominated with their winning margin of 11 points. Frohling sealed the deal on this set with a kill and a final score of 25-22, securing the Toreros a 2-0 lead over the Mustangs going into the third set. 

In the last set of this game, the Mustangs fought for a  comeback with an early lead of 6-3 over USD. This didn’t last long. Katie Lukes completed a successful kill and service ace to bring the game home. From there, the Toreros continued to deliver while the Mustangs could not keep up. USD finished this set 3-0, securing their first win of the USD invitational. 

The Toreros second game of the invitational was against the University of Connecticut (UConn) Huskies. In a similar fashion to the first game, USD came out strong in this game with a lead of 6-3. From there, the Toreros handled business and kept the Huskies at a four-point lead for the remainder of the set. They won the first set 25-15. 

USD maintained their pace to start the second set. San Diego took an early 4-0 lead, which eventually amounted to a 11-4 score to start off. San Diego kept the momentum going and ended the second set with a score of 25-12, putting them up 2-0 in this match. 

In the third set of this game, the Toreros battled closely with the Huskies all the way through. The set began with a back and forth game, with both sides scoring one after the other. This brought the teams to a score of 19-19 before Frohling made a kill, giving USD enough momentum to win the third set with a score of 25-22. 

Looking to win a third game in a row, USD faced a hard challenge against the University of Utah. The first set started off as a back-and-forth game, leading to a 9-9 score. The Toreros fell behind by as many as six in this game before cutting the deficit to two points near the end of the set. San Diego fell just short to Utah in this first set, losing 25-22 and starting off the match 0-1. 

Starting the second set, the Toreros came out swinging, putting up a score of 12-7. As the set came to a close, Utah trailed by as many as 11 points which led to a 25-11 win for San Diego in the second set, putting the match score to 1-1. 

The Toreros continued their fight in the third set going for a competitive beginning. With the score 11-11, the Toreros began to pull away yet again for a 25-18 set win, putting them up 2-1. 

The Utah Utes showed a sense of urgency and started the final set off strong with a 9-2 lead. The Toreros chipped away at the deficit down to 11-8, but Utah pulled away again, giving them a 19-10 lead. 

The Toreros got as close as 24-17 before it slipped out of their fingers. San Diego lost this set with a score of 25-18, tying the game up 2-2 to enter a tie breaking fifth set. 

In the last set, Frohling helped the Toreros with three early kills to put them up 3-2. 

After more rallying between the two teams, three kills by Breana Edwards and a Utah error, the Toreros were up 12-7. The score reached 12-9 before San Diego pulled away for good, ending the set 15-9 in a gritty, 3-2 victory.

 Reflecting on the game, Katie Lukes said, “This weekend is another example of how much resilience and fight our team has. We have continued to work hard each day and it is amazing to feel how much synergy we have together on the court. Winning three tough matches in a row proves to us that we have put in the time to grow physically and mentally.” 

The Toreros are currently on a four game winning streak. They will begin their West Coast Conference games on Thursday, Sept. 22 in the Jenny Craig Pavilion against No. 2, Pepperdine University.