SAN FRANCISCO — Kathya Garcia totaled 39 kills on the day, Valeria Alegrias Cambindo followed with 23, and Kate Ashman hit .333 with 19 kills across two matches as the University of San Francisco volleyball team earned two victories Friday on the first day of its own USF Invitational, coming from behind to beat UC Riverside, 3-2 (30-32, 21-25, 25-20, 25-23, 15-11), and sweeping Purdue Fort Wayne, 25-18, 25-14, 25-19, at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center.


 
vs. UC RIVERSIDE

• Garcia had a career-high 26 kills on 47 attempts with only three errors (.489 hitting percentage) in the Dons' (3-2) opening match versus UC Riverside (3-2). Alegrias Cambindo tallied a season-high 12 kills in that match, and Ashman also had 12 to go with three blocks.
   
• An epic first frame set the tone for the match. The Dons looked to be cruising towards a first set win, but the Highlanders erased a seven-point, 21-14 deficit with an 11-3 run and found themselves in position to take a 1-0 match lead after being four points away from going down 1-0. Those 11 points came via nine kills, a service ace and only one USF error, as UCR ratcheted up what had been a quiet offense up to that point.
   
• San Francisco had three set points but UC Riverside fought them all off with five consecutive points to reach its own set point at 25-24. During the back-and-forth scoring that took the two teams into the 30s on the scoreboard, the Highlanders had six set points of their own, but USF came back on each of the first five, including back-to-back kills by Garcia that made it 28-27 and gave the Dons another chance to win the set. But UCR scored five of the final seven points to win the set, 32-30.
   
• That momentum would carry into the second set as the Highlanders went up 2-0 with a 25-21 set victory. But the Dons wouldn't go away, scoring five straight points early in set three to lead the rest of the way and win 25-20, and spending all of set four within three points of the Highlanders before scoring the final four points to come from behind and win 25-23, forcing a fifth set.
   
• UC Riverside scored the first point of the deciding set, but that was the last time it would lead. San Francisco got two kills from Garcia sandwiched around an Ally Wada ace, and it would never surrender the lead again. Garcia and Wada also put a cap on the victory, with Garcia putting away a kill off a set from Wada to clinch the 15-10 set triumph.

vs. PURDUE FORT WAYNE

• San Francisco did not trail against Purdue Fort Wayne (1-4) until the early part of the third set. It won the first two sets easily by scores of 25-18 and 25-14. The Mastodons scored four straight points thanks in part to two USF errors and were still holding on to an 8-6 lead before USF woke up again.
   
• A 13-4 run midway through the third frame put the Dons ahead for good at 19-12. PFW made another late push with four more consecutive points to make it 20-17, but the Dons scored five of the last seven points to finish the sweep.

COMING UP

• San Francisco concludes play in the USF Invitational at 3 p.m. Saturday against Nevada, who split on the first day, going 1-1 against Purdue Fort Wayne and UC Riverside. Fans can purchase tickets and find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.