August 25, 2005

CSUDH vs. University of Bridgeport    UC San Diego vs. Point Loma

Point Loma vs. Concordia (NY)    UC San Diego vs. University of Bridgeport

Carson, CA -- Cal State Dominguez Hills newcomers Ashley Lawler (Newhall, CA/College of the Canyons), Timary More (Torrance, CA/El Camino CC) and Courtney Spainhour (Redondo Beach, CA/El Camino CC) combined for 48 of the Toros' total 67 kills as CSUDH came back from a one-game deficit to take its first match of the 2005 season with a 31-33, 30-23, 34-32, 30-19 win over the University of Bridgeport. With the win, the Toros improve to 1-0 on the year.

After the Purple Knights took an epic 33-31 decision in game one, the Toros regrouped in the next game, outhitting UB .417 to .261 to even the match. With that momentum, CSUDH came out on fire in game three, storming out to a comfortable 20-11 lead, the majority of points coming on Spainhour's strong service game. The Purple Knights would not fold, however, mounting a comeback of their own behind four points from Amy Neussl's serve to narrow the gap to 25-23. After UB eventually caught the Toros at 27-27, a Lawler kill and BU attacking error pushed CSUDH to game point at 29-27. BU's Lindsay Bigelow would serve the Purple Knights to a 30-29 lead, but an ensuing service error and another Lawler kill would give the Toros the lead again at 31-30. BU would take the next two points to give it game point at 32-31, but Lawler again game through with a huge kill to knot the game, and a BU attack error and a More putaway at 33-32 would give CSUDH a pivotal game three win, 34-32.

Game four was all CSUDH as it stretched a 12-10 advantage to a 28-15 lead on four Spainhour kills and two by Lawler. The Purple Knights would hang on by putting together a string of three-consecutive points on a Toro service error and two Neussl serves, but two Spainhour putaways, the last coming at 29-19, would propel CSUDH to a 1-0 record in its 2005 season opener.

Lawler paced all hitters with 18 kills, while Spainhour and More each contributed 15 in the four-game win. More, a Torrance native, was a picture of efficiency, connecting for 15 kills and only one error on 18 swings, good for a .778 hitting percentage, vaulting her to the top of the CSUDH record book for hitting percentage in a single match.

Spainhour also contributed a match-high 17 digs to give her the team's only double-double, while senior libero Sylvia Bonilla (Los Angeles, CA/Fremont HS) contributed 16 digs in the win and setter Kayleigh Spratt (Rohnert Park, CA/Rancho Cotate HS) dished a match-high 56 assists.

For the Purple Knights, Jessica Bornack led all BU player with 15 kills and 12 digs, while Julie Jafemann chipped in with nine kills in the losing effort.

In other action, defending CCAA Champion UC San Diego began its 2005 season with two wins over Point Loma Nazarene (25-30, 27-30, 30-25, 30-22, 15-13) and BU (30-19, 30-21, 30-11), despite losing all six starters from last season's championship squad. In the epic five-game thriller over Pt. Loma to kick off day one's festivities, the Tritons dropped the first two games to the Sea Lions before storming back to take the final three, courtesy of Nicole Courtney's 19 kills and Brianna Koche's 17 putaways.

Propelled by the Sea Lions wake-up call, the Tritons swept past BU in the day's final match as six UCSD players tallied at least five kills in the balanced three-game win, limiting the Purple Knights to a .038 hitting percentage.

In the day's third match, Point Loma Nazarene picked up its first win of the season with a 30-19, 30-23, 30-22 win over Concordia (NY) as Kate Alderson's 13 kills and 10 digs led PLNU to a sizable .204 to .009 hitting advantage over the Clippers from Bronxville.

CSUDH (1-0) continues the Classic tomorrow as it faces Point Loma Nazarene (1-1) at 10 a.m., followed by a match-up against Concordia (NY) (0-1) at 4 p.m. to conclude the tournament. UC San Diego (2-0) will face Concordia (NY) in the day's second match, while the University of Bridgeport (0-2) and Pt. Loma follow that the Triton/Clipper match-up with a scheduled 2:00 p.m. first serve in the Torodome.