SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The San Francisco volleyball team pushed No. 23 San Diego to four sets, and nearly extended the match to a fifth, before falling 3-1 in Saturday afternoon's Pink Game at Jenny Craig Pavilion.

USF was paced by double-doubles by USF's top two scorers on the season. Senior middle blocker Valentina Zaloznik notched a match-high 16 kills on .517 hitting to go along with 11 total blocks, including three solo stuffs. Katarina Pilepic, a sophomore from Novi Vinodolski, Croatia, added 14 kills, 10 digs and five blocks in the match. USF's sophomore setter, Kiara McKibben nearly added a third double-double to the Dons' stat sheet, finishing with 31 assists and nine digs for USF.  

Zaloznik, in the midst of a stellar senior campaign, now stands at 1,026 career kills, good for 9th in the all-time record books. Her total block tally of 372 puts the Ljubno ob Savinji, Slovenia, native tied for 5th with Tracy Harrison (1982-85), She is also in USF's career top 10 lists for solo blocks (72 – 7th) and aces (98 – 9th).

The Dons, who have now faced two-straight Top 25 opponents, move to 9-7 on the year, and 2-2 in West Coast Conference action. The 23rd-ranked Toreros notched their 10th win of the season to stand at 10-7 (3-2 WCC).

After starting off the first set locked in a tight dual, a powerful strike by Oluoma Okaro put the Dons ahead 5-4. The Toreros then went on a 10-point run with Kristen Gengenbacher at the serve to build the advantage in the frame. The run was stopped with a kill by Anja Segota off the assist from Jurja Vlasic to make it 14-6 in favor of the Toreros and the damage was done. USF rallied to get within five late in the set after three in a row from the duo of Zaloznik and Pilepic, but San Diego finished the set with a score of 25-19.

In the second, USF raced out to a 5-0 lead as Segota manned the service line, and maintained the five-point lead after an ace by freshman Kim Gutierrez put the score at 12-7. However, the Toreros would battle back with another long run, this time stringing together a 7-1 run to take the 20-18 lead after Canace Finley's kill. After a USF timeout settled the Green and Gold down, Zaloznik had her hand in five of the next seven points, recording a solo block and combining for stuffs with McKibben, Segota and Pilepic as the Dons took the frame 25-21 to knot the match heading into halftime.

The Dons again opened the third with the advantage, starting out with a 4-1 lead. The frame stayed close with ties at six, 10 and 11 points when San Diego again was able to put together a sizeable run. The Toreros reeled off six straight as part of an 11-2 run as San Diego opened up a 22-13 lead before going on to take the set 25-16.

In what would prove to be the final set of the afternoon, San Diego advanced to a 9-4 lead after back-to-back kills from Sandra Lozik, off the assist from Hunter Jennings. Midway through the frame Emily Reed's kill pulled USF within one with the score at 16-15 in favor of the home team. The Dons and Toreros remained neck-and-neck for the remainder of the day before the match was closed with a block from Lauren Schad and Finley as San Diego took the set 25-22.

USF was outhit .265 to .181, but managed to remain within striking distance with a 13 to seven advantage on the block. The Toreros' balanced offense finished with four women totaling double-digit kills, and four with double-digit digs.

Next up, the Dons return home for a pair of matches against Pacific Northwest foes. First, USF meets up with Gonzaga Thursday at 7 p.m.