SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco volleyball team ended their day at War Memorial Gym the same way it began – with a victory. USF pulled out a 3-1 win over Georgia to close the San Francisco Invitational as tournament winners.
 
The Dons start the season 3-0 for the first time since 2005, and ride a five-match winning streak dating back to the last weekend of the 2013 season.

"It was a great weekend overall," head coach Gilad Doron said after the victory. "We were challenged in every match, and we were responding in every match. To come up with a victory today in the way we did it is very satisfying for the first weekend of the season."
 
The Bulldogs, who finished 22-10 in 2013 and enjoyed a berth in the NCAA tournament a year ago, proved to be a tough test for the Dons, but USF found a way to overcome the blocking differential and overall attack percentage in the match to gut out the win.
 
USF was paced in the game by four women to reach double-digit kills. Anja Segota finished with a match-high 17 with Valentina Zaloznik right behind with 16. Katarina Pilepic added 14 kills with freshman Jessica Gaffney picking up 11 kills and 11 digs in the match. Segota also finished with a double-double after compiling 12 digs for the Dons. Kiara McKibben racked up 48 assists and libero Kim Gutierrez added 19 digs to her tally.
 
"We knew before that Georgia is a physical team that matches us pretty well, and they weren't going to go out of here without a fight," Doron said. "I thought that we did a good job in Game 1 to finish it strong, kind of had a little lapse in the second game, and the third game was an incredible battle. I've got to give our girls a lot of credit. All-in-all I think it was a great time to grow for us and we came through it and showed some resiliency. It's part of our motto this year to show some resiliency and we showed it when we needed it most. "
 
In the first set, the score was knotted on multiple occasions with neither team able to build a sizeable advantage. Late in the action, the Bulldogs were up 21-18 after reeling off four straight points with Cassidy Anderson at the serve. Three straight kills by Segota pulled the Dons back even at 22-all. After exchanging points to get the game at 23-23, Georgia called a timeout, and the Dons closed the set with the next two points as Inbar Vinarsky and Katarina Pilepic combined for the punctuating block and give the Dons the 25-23 win.
 
The Dons opened the second with a spurt of momentum, building the early 8-4 advantage with a kill from Segota. But with the Dons stuck on eight points, the Bulldogs raced back to take the lead on 11-8 as Anderson was again manning Georgia's service line. The visitors managed to take a 25-22 second-set victory and even the match score heading into halftime.
 
The third set went to extra points, not going final until to Dons bested the Bulldogs 29-27 off a kill by Segota, assisted by McKibben. With momentum firmly on the side of USF, the Dons raced out to an early 8-2 advantage off a block by Gaffney and Zaloznik. Georgia battled back to tie the score at 18 and again at 19 points before the Dons picked up the lead off the kill from freshman Oluoma Okaro. Despite a rally by the Bulldogs, the Dons never relented in their perseverance and closed the game with a 25-23 victory in the fourth.
 
Zaloznik, a senior from Ljubno ob Savinji, Slovenia, finished the weekend with a new school record set Saturday morning and a tournament MVP nod. Segota and Pilepic were named to the all-tournament team for their consistent efforts throughout USF's three matches.
 
"I thought Valentina played her best match of the weekend against Georgia," Doron noted. "There was a time when she said, 'I'm not going to be stopped and I'm not going to let this one go,' and she carried the entire team.
 
"Kat and Anja were very consistent the whole weekend. I thought today Georgia challenged them with a bigger block and they stayed patient, they stayed positive and they fought through. That's all that matters, and will they grow from it."
 
Up next, the Dons travel to Long Beach State to play in the Mizuno Invitational Sept. 5-6. USF will face off with Campbell Friday at 5 p.m., before dueling with Army Saturday at 11 a.m. USF closes the tournament against the host 49ers at 7:30 p.m., on Saturday.

Tournament Standings:
1st - USF (3-0)
2nd - SMU (2-1)
3rd - Georgia (1-2)
4th - Fordham (0-3)

All-Tournament Team:
Most Valuable Player - Valentina Zaloznik (USF)
Avery Acker (SMU)
Jasmine Eatmon (Georgia)
Abigail Konovodoff (Fordham)
Katarina Pilepic (USF)
Anja Segota (USF)
Caroline Young (SMU)