Box Score CLICK TO WATCH
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - The USF women's volleyball team took San Diego down to the wire in a five-set affair (21-25, 25-21, 25-11, 20-25, 11-15), nearly pulling off the upset against the No. 13 Toreros.
With the win, USD remains tops in the West Coast Conference, moving to 19-1, 7-1 in conference action while the Dons slip to 12-9, 3-5 WCC.
The Dons were led by a 15-kill, 12-dig double-double by freshman
Ester de Vries and 45 assists on the night by senior setter
Leanna Ludes. Junior
Malina Terrell and
Valentina Zaloznik, Slovenian sophomore middle blocker, chipped in 13 and 11 kills, respectively.
The Dons started the first set with a service ace from senior
Jocelyn Levig to take the first lead of the night. The Toreros quickly erased the deficit and built a 16-8 lead capped by a four-point run. The Dons had string of four straight of their own to answer, when sophomore Ania Segota controlled the serve for USF. The Dons got the set to 21-19 before falling 25-21, despite their best efforts.
USF took control during the second set, riding a seven-point run to jump out to a 14-7 lead. A USD rally closed the gap to 14-11, but the Dons weathered the storm when a block by de Vries punctuated a six-point run to set the score at 20-11. Yet another comeback bid was staged by the Toreros, but a kill by de Vries gave the set to the Dons, 25-21, to tie the match. USF capitalized on a solid .256 hitting percentage, while the Toreros only managed a .104 percentage in the set.
The momentum shift carried over into the third set where the Dons jumped out ot a 3-0 lead before a extended volleying play got the Toreros on the board. USF then surged to a 12-5 advantage finished off with a
Hadley Simmons kill. The Dons extended their lead to 17-6 with Levig at the serve as she earned her second service ace of the night, before going on to earn the 25-11 set victory. USF's domination in the third was apparent by a .632 hitting percentage and no errors, contrasted by USD's nine errors and a .059 percentage. This marks the lowest point total for a USF opponent this season in a 25-point set.
USD regrouped in the fourth set, but not before the Dons raced out to a 9-4 lead off a de Vries ace. The Toreros tied the set at 17-17 and took their first lead of the set two points later when USD's Chloe Ferrari registered the kill and gave the visitors a 19-18 advantage. From that point on, the Toreros outscored the Dons 6-2 to tie the match after a 25-20 set win.
In the hotly-contested deciding set, USD started with a 2-0 lead before the Dons would even the score. The set was tied at 5-5 and again at 11-11 when de Vries laid down the strike to even the score. However, the Toreros rattled off the next four points to earn the set victory, 15-11. This is the fourth time this season the Dons have taken a match to five sets, with the previous four opportunities resulting in USF wins.
The Toreros have not lost two sets in a match since a 3-2 win over Notre Dame on Sept. 8. The only USD loss of the season came at the hands of USC one day previously, on Sept. 7.
The Dons next take to the court when the team welcomes Portland to War Memorial Gym on Oct. 25 at 6:30 p.m.
