by PALO ALTO, Calif. – The University of San Diego women’s volleyball team rallies back from a 0-2 deficit, to stun No. 11 Stanford University, 3-2, Friday evening in the season-opener for both teams.
With the 22-25, 19-25, 25-18, 25-21, 15-11 win, the Toreros open the season at 1-0, and have dealt the Cardinal their first season-opening loss since the 2008 season. This also marks USD’s first ever win over the Cardinal. With the loss, Stanford falls to 0-1 on the season.
Sophomore outside hitter Lauren Fuller led the USD offense with a career-high 20 kills, and she recorded a double-double with 10 digs, while also hitting for a .271 clip. Lauren Shad (Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe) has a big game to get her senior season started by adding 12 Kills for the Toreros, she also had the highest hitting percentage in the game at .440. Jayden Kennedy was the only other Torero in double digit kills with 13. Kristen Gengenbacher also recorded a double-double with 23 assists, and 16 digs, while Hunter Jennings managed to record 12 digs.
As a team, USD hit for a .228 clip, while Stanford hit .220. The Toreros had 66 digs, to Stanford 53, while the Cardinal had 20 total blocks, to USD’s 14.
For the Cardinal, Hodson led the offense with 13 kills, while Ajanaku had 11 kills, Plummer chipped in with 12 kills and Lutz had 10 kills.
The Toreros will return to action on Saturday, as they take on No. 3 Minnesota in a 4:00 p.m. match at Maples Pavilion.
