SAN FRANCISCO – The Dons wrapped up the Battle of the Bay tournament today, finishing with a 1-2 record to open the 2017 season.
 
In day two of play, USF squared up with Fresno State and San Jose State. The morning match with the Bulldogs started off with an intense first set in which there were nine ties. Both teams saw multiple set points until the visitors were able to put it away, 28-26.
 
The next two sets went by quickly as the Bulldogs pulled away. They held the Dons to .073 and .037 hitting percentage in the final frames. Taylor Slover led Fresno State, recording 18 kills. USF was also plagued by errors, amassing 21 over the match.
 
Freshman Erica Ronda recorded her second-consecutive game with double-digit kills (11). Starting setter Erin Anthony registered 23 assists and a .429 hitting percentage with four kills.

Next up were the co-hosts of the tournament, San Jose State. In the true Battle of the Bay, USF struck first, winning the opening set 25-18. However, the Spartans rallied back to win the next three. Fernanda Vido tallied 24 kills for the visiting team, eight in the third set alone. Nandyala Gama earned 11 slams, while Jamie Hirai saw four aces.

For the Dons, Ronda notched another game with 10-plus kills. She also had two aces. On a weekend in which not all went as planned, there was still Friday night's victory and a showing of a young team working hard to grow.
 
Although Coach Lavrisha stressed that ball control hurt the Dons on Saturday, he was more focused on the positive takeaways.
 
"I like how we competed. Our team saw that we can play with these teams and we have enough ability to do that. Our young players got the flavor of what it's like to win. We are building chemistry."
 
The Dons head to Reno, Nev. for a rematch with the Wolfpack, who the Dons swept on Friday night. First serve is set for 6:30 p.m. (PDT).