Toreros sweep WCC weekend

USD volleyball beats both Portland and Gonzaga in straight sets to extend WCC winning streak to three

Anderson Haigler/Sports Editor/The USD Vista

As the Toreros made their way through one of the nation’s tougher non-conference women’s volleyball schedules earlier this season, USD women’s volleyball head coach Jennifer Petrie stressed the value of games against difficult opponents prior to conference play. 

“We could’ve had a really easy schedule and had a lot more wins, but at the end of the day if you want to be one of the best in the country you have to play them,” Petrie said last month. “I think that going into conference, (the Toreros) are going to feel really confident, because they’ve had that match play to rely on.”

Last Thursday night, her team looked confident. Exceptionally confident, even. The Toreros continued West Coast Conference (WCC) play with a game against the  University of Portland, and rolled to a dominant 3-0 victory over the Pilots in straight sets. As the Toreros (7-7, 4-1 WCC) took on the Pilots (12-4, 0-4 WCC), the difference between the two teams became stark, belying the disparity in the teams’ respective overall records and perhaps illustrating the merit of the Toreros’ rigorous non-conference schedule. 

The match was characterized by the Toreros playing with an energy and sense of chemistry that perhaps had not yet been seen this season. The win marked their third consecutive WCC victory following a 3-1 decision against Loyola Marymount University earlier in the week.

Though USD finished the match in commanding fashion, the first set began relatively closely. Kills from five separate players to open the match kept the Toreros neck and neck with the Pilots in the match’s early stages. However, following a tie at 11 points apiece, USD began to pull away. Led by a flurry of kills on offense from sophomore Roxie Wiblin and senior Lauren Fuller, the Toreros raced to a 21-14 advantage. It was a lead they would not relinquish. Though the Pilots showed signs of life, pulling within five points of USD in the later parts of the set, the Toreros finished strong and secured a 25-19 victory in the opening frame of their third WCC match. They did so behind seven kills from Fuller, and perhaps equally as important, just three collective errors. 

In their second set, it appeared that the Toreros had momentarily lost a step on the Pilots. They trailed throughout the opening parts of the frame, allowing Portland to take a 3-0 lead to begin it. They continued to play catch up until nearly the midway point, not leading until they took a 10-9 advantage on a kill from first-year outside hitter Katie Lukes. From there on out, however, it was all Toreros, all the time. They took their lead and ran with it, playing their way to yet another 25-19 set victory that was nearly identical in its late stages to the one before it. This win, though, was a more balanced effort for USD on offense. Lukes and Fuller both chipped in five kills each, with junior middle blocker Megan Jacobsen adding in four of her own. Continuing the theme of minimizing mistakes, the Toreros committed just two attack errors. 

The Toreros’ third set appeared to be a culmination of USD’s progress both mid-game against the Pilots, and overall this season. In what would be the final frame of an impressive victory against a WCC opponent, the Toreros set forth what may have been one of their best-played sets so far this season. Though the Pilots struck first and jumped out to a 1-0 lead, USD quickly leveled the score and never looked back. Behind three kills each from seniors Addie Picha and Fuller and four from Jacobsen, the Toreros had the Pilots on their heels nearly all set long, forcing them to make seven errors. Continuing their momentum from the set before, USD extended their lead to as large as 15 points, winning the set and match by a score of 25-10. 

Fuller, who had a team-high 15 total kills in the match, described her team’s performance after the game.

“It was amazing,” Fuller said. “We felt super confident. I think everyone came into the match after working hard in practice. Coming off a win at LMU was really special too. Being able to continue our streak and all the hard work we’ve been putting in in practice and going out there in front of a home crowd I think is really important.” 

Fuller mentioned that team chemistry, as well as communication, was key to her team’s success last Thursday.

“I think we were talking a lot more than we normally do, which keeps people focused,” Fuller said. “Everyone knows what’s going on in the play, which is special because not a lot of teams do that. We used to get caught up in plays but now we’re ahead of the game, which is cool as well.”

According to junior libero Payton Douglass, positive momentum from their road victory against LMU carried over into their Thursday match.

“Riding the high from LMU, this energy continued throughout the games,” Douglass said. “We want great success in our season, so everybody’s on a whole different level right now.”

Petrie assessed her team’s win.

“Lauren Fuller had an exceptional evening, she had such high hitting percentages with only one error, I think she certainly did a lot for us offensively,” Petrie said. “I thought our setters did a really nice job, because if the setters are able to create some one-on-one and give the hitters the opportunities to get those kinds of hitting percentages, they definitely deserve some accolades from that. Our passing was really good, it was on the money. I thought Portland served pretty tough, but we were able to handle ball control and get the passes we needed to open up the offense.”

Though the Toreros got out to a rocky 3-6 start to their season, they have found their groove as they make their way through the beginning of conference play, as they are now 4-1 in the WCC thus far. Douglass, who led her team with 14 digs, assessed her team’s progress as the season unfolds. 

“It’s all through trial and error,” Douglass said. “And right now we’re like in our groove, we’ve found our groove and our niche, and we’re riding on that as long as we can. And we’re improving on that. Even though we’ve found it, we’re trying to make it more intense.”

Petrie said that the victory was perhaps an early culmination of aspects of the game her team had  been working to improve.

“It was really exciting to see them play and have it all come together and really just run through a team like we did tonight,” Petrie said. “I think that they finally have a comfort level with each other. Everybody is assuming their role, accepting their role, not only from the starters but from people that are coming off the bench, and from people that are pushing in practice. Everybody is on the same page making us better everyday.” 

According to Petrie, the victory is among the Toreros’ most dominant so far this season.

“We’ve had a lot of good wins lately, but they have not been in a dominant fashion,” Petrie said. “So having this match tonight and win in three I think really helps with their confidence. And going forward in conference just having that comfort level, knowing that no matter who we’re playing, we can start to just really come together.”

After the Toreros’ Thursday night win, they took on Gonzaga University in another home WCC contest on Saturday afternoon. They were able to continue their dominance with another 3-0 win in straight sets against the Bulldogs behind 10 kills each from Jacobsen and Lukes. USD’s weekend success evens their overall record at 7-7, and moves their WCC record to 4-1, good for a two-way tie with Pepperdine University for second place in the standings behind Brigham Young University, ranked No.1 nationally. The Toreros will take on the aforementioned first-place Cougars this Friday at 7 p.m. in the Jenny Craig Pavilion.