by SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Behind 24 kills from senior outside hitter Lisa Kramer, the 15th-ranked University of San Diego women’s volleyball team dealt No. 7 UCLA its first loss of the season, 3-1.
With the 21-25, 25-22, 25-16, 25-21 win, the Toreros improve to 5-2 overall, claim the program’s first ever win over UCLA, and claimed the title of the USD Tournament. This also marks the third top-10 opponent USD has defeated in the JCP since the 2013 season. With the loss, the Bruins fall to 7-1 overall.
Kramer recorded her 24 kills on 44 swings, while only committing four errors to hit for a .455 clip.Lauren Schad (Cheyenne River Sioux) was the second Torero in double digit kills, as she had 12, while also recording three digs and two blocks. Kristen Gengenbacher had a double-double with 34 assists, and 20 digs, while Hunter Jennings racked up 29 digs, which is tied for sixth most in USD single-match history. Addie Pica was also a brick wall for the Torero at the net, recording a match-best six blocks.
As a team, USD hit for a .283 clip, while the Bruins hit .228. USD recorded 86 digs, while UCLA had 82 digs, and the Toreros out blocked the Bruins 9.0-7.0.
The Bruins trailed just once in the opening set. After UCLA scored the first three points of the match, San Diego netted the next four. But a UCLA kill and a Torero attack error gave the Bruins the lead for good. At 8-7, the Bruins scored five of six to go ahead 13-8. UCLA’s lead stayed between three and five for the rest of the set.
In set No. 2, with UCLA leading 5-4, San Diego scored four straight on kills by Kramer, Lauren Fuller, and Jayden Kennedy. The home team wouldn’t trail for the rest of the set. USD would build up its lead to as many as four on several occasions, but the Bruins would make one late push to cut the deficit to one at 18-17. However this is as close as they would get, as a Kaity Edwards kill sparked a 7-5 run down the stretch to even the match at one set a piece with a 25-22 win.
San Diego led from start to finish in the third. The only tie was at one apiece, which was followed by six straight Torero points. At 10-3, the Bruins went on a 7-2 run to get to within a pair at 12-10. But that was as close as UCLA would get, as San Diego finished the third on a 13-6 run to win it 25-16. The Toreros also did not trail in the fourth. There were only two ties at 1-all and 4-all. With USD up 8-7, the home squad went on an 11-3 run to go up by a set-best nine at 19-10. USD never looked back, as they cruised their way to a 25-21 win, completing the upset win.
For UCLA, Jordan Anderson led the way with 17 kills, while Reily Buechler had 14 kills and Torrey Van Winden had 11 kills. Taylor Formico led the defense with 15 digs, while Ryann Chandler recorded 36 assists, and had eight digs.
The Toreros will return to action on Friday, as they welcome Long Beach State to town for a 7 p.m. showdown.
