Gengenbacher’s Double-Double Keeps #17 San Diego Tied for WCC Lead With Sweep of Saint Mary’s

MATCH STATS

• #17 San Diego def. Saint Mary’s 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-23)
• #17 San Diego improves to 18-4 (11-1, WCC); Saint Mary’s drops to 7-16 (3-10, WCC)
• San Diego, California (WCC Match)
• Attendance: 232
• Box Score

San Diego, California – #17 San Diego kept pace atop the West Coast Conference standings for a first-place tie with BYU as they swept Saint Mary’s 3-0.

It wasn’t the best defensive match of the season for the Toreros, but the offense more than picked up their share of things. Saint Mary’s hit .202, which again isn’t great but is more than San Diego allows on the season and it came to a bottom-half team in the conference. They were also out-blocked 8-6 – although that’s something the Toreros can and have overcome.

In total for the offense, they did overcome that with a .292 hitting percentage as setter Kristen Gengenbacher (37 assists, 10 digs, three kills) found plenty of balance throughout the offense. Behind a strong .973 serve reception, good passing and then setting from Gengenbacher, six players totaled three or more kills. Of course, one of those was Gengenbacher, while the other five were led by Jayden Kennedy (15 kills, .367) and Kaity Edwards (11 kills, .688, three aces).

One thing that San Diego did well in addition to the offense was hitting their target with a game-plan in mind on the serve. Of the 71 San Diego serves that were contacted by Saint Mary’s, 31 went to the Gaels top offensive weapon in Lindsey Knudsen. Beyond getting a couple of aces off of it, it made things more difficult in attack – whether through fatigue or just being out of position – for Knudsen who notched nine kills on 28 swings with four errors (.179).

San Diego will stay at home after this one as another home WCC match is to come on Saturday with Pacific headed to town. This was match one of a three-match road trip for Saint Mary’s on the other hand, as a trip to BYU is next on the ledger for the Gaels.

PRESS RELEASES:

Courtesy of San Diego:

SAN DIEGO – Kaity Edwards posted a .688 hitting percentage to lead San Diego to its 14th sweep of the season, defeating Saint Mary’s 3-0 on Thursday night at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

Edwards racked up 11 kills with no errors highlight the Toreros (18-4, 11-1 WCC) eighth straight win. USD has won 22-of-25 sets during the winning streak.

Jayden Kennedy paced the Toreros with 15 kills, while Roxie Wiblin pitched in nine and Addie Pichaadded seven. Kristen Gengenbacher continued to set the Toreros up for success, contributing 37 assists.

The Gaels (7-16, 3-10 WCC) had trouble getting past Picha at the net who registered a team-high six blocks.

Lizzy Tardieu, Kristen Gengenbacher and Wiblin each hit double digits in digs to combine for 33 of the Toreros 50 digs.

With the first set knotted at 9-9, the Toreros went on 5-1 run to take a 14-9 lead. The Gaels battled back to knot the score at 15-15 but USD produced a 7-3 rally to retake the lead, 22-18. The Toreros would not relinquish its lead and secured the first set, 25-19.

USD continued its hot start in the second set, jumping out to a 7-3 advantage. The Toreros dominated the remainder of the set and claimed a 25-18 decision.

The third set was a back-and-forth affair with each team trading runs. The Toreros faced a 13-11 deficit after a 7-1 run by the Gaels. USD responded with a 5-1 rally to retake the lead, 16-14. Kennedy put the finishing touch on the sweep with a kill to win the third set, 25-23.

The Toreros will look to continue its momentum Saturday at noon (PT) when it plays host to Pacific.

Courtesy of Saint Mary’s:

SAN DIEGO — The Saint Mary’s women’s volleyball team faced its seventh top-15 ranked opponent of the year Thursday and once again played competitively, but it was the No. 13 San Diego Toreros that came out on top with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-23) West Coast Conference sweep at Jenny Craig Pavilion.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Gaels (7-16, 3-10 WCC) didn’t let San Diego (18-4, 11-1 WCC) out of their sights for most of the first set. Only once did USD pull ahead by more than two points with a 5-0 run to break a 9-9 tie. But the Gaels answered back with a 6-1 stretch to tie it at 15-15.
• The Toreros closed the first set on a 6-1 run to pull away from SMC when it was 19-18. Two kills and an ace from Kaity Edwards helped put USD up 1-0. Teammate Jayden Kennedy had three kills early in set two to put San Diego up 6-2 early en route to growing a big 23-13 lead and a 25-18 set win to go up 2-0 in the set.
• Refusing to go down quietly, the Gaels hit .324 in the third set while taking a 13-11 lead. SMC still led the set 17-16 after a USD error, but a 7-2 sprint by the Toreros put them on the verge of clinching the match at 23-19. Saint Mary’s made it 24-23 before finally succumbing.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

• Sienna Young and Morgan Hughes both had nine kills to lead SMC. Young hit a team-best .409 while Hughes hit .353.
• Alexsa “Crash” Parker posted another double-double, tallying 16 assists and 10 digs. Mary Hernandez added 14 assists.
• USD’s Kennedy led all players with 15 kills. Edwards hit a match-best .688 with 11 kills and no errors.

COMING UP

• Saint Mary’s travels to Provo, Utah, on Saturday to face No. 10 BYU. SMC’s three-match road trip concludes next week at Pacific on Nov. 11