August 26, 2005

CSUDH vs. Point Loma    UC San Diego vs. Concordia (NY)

CSUDH vs. Concordia (NY)    Point Loma vs. University of Bridgeport

Carson, CA -- Cal State Dominguez Hills rebounded from its opening loss to Point Loma Nazarene by sweeping Concordia (NY) in the day's final match as the 2nd Annual adidas Toro Classic came to a close this afternoon. With the split, CSUDH improves to 2-1 on the young season.

In the opener, the Toros and Sea Lions played neck and neck in game one, tying seven times after the game's first 20 points. PLNU jumped out to a 15-10 advantage, only to have the Toros run off five-consecutive points, courtesy of Amber Chauff's (Westchester, CA/St. Monica HS) stellar serve.

The Sea Lions would respond by scoring 10 of the next 15 points to regain its five-point cushion, but CSUDH again would claw back, knotting the game at 30-30 on four-consecutive points off the serve of Timary More (Torrance, CA/El Camino CC). The Toros, however, could not get past the pesky Sea Lions, dropping the next two points, and game one, 32-30.

Game two mirrored game one, as the two teams would remain knotted up until 23-23. That's when PLNU's Kylie Morel took over, using two service aces and strong hitting by her teammates to bring the Sea Lions to game point at 29-23. After a Courtney Spainhour (Redondo Beach, CA/El Camino CC) kill gave CSUDH hope, a Toro attack error sealed CSUDH's fate, giving PLNU a commanding 2-0 lead.

Game three proved more of the same as the two teams battled, only to have the Sea Lions take control late. Despite strong serving by Chauff and Spainhour, PLNU would turn a 15-15 tie into a 27-23 advantage, where Natalie Rentz's three-consecutive serves would do the Toros in as the Sea Lions would take game three, 30-23, and the match 3-0.

Kelsey Tyree led all hitters with 15 kills, while teammate Kate Alderson chipped in 13 kills and a match-high 17 digs in the PLNU win. More led the Toros with nine kills, while Spainhour chipped in eight and a team-best 11 digs.

In the nightcap, CSUDH came back against a pesky Concordia squad, to best the Clippers 30-20, 30-24, 30-22. Freshman Amber Harder (Whittier, CA/Sonora HS) and Chauff continued the strong early season serving against Concordia, combining for 15 of the Toros' 30 points.

After taking a commanding 11-2 lead in the opener, the Toros kept the Clippers at arm's length the rest of the way, courtesy of four Spainhour bombs and three by More. After gaining game point at 29-16, Lohea Merola led the Clippers back with four points off her serve, but a final More kill sealed game one for CSUDH, 30-20.

The visitors played the Toros tight in game two, taking an early 10-9 lead on an Ariel Isaac kill. The Toros would regroup, however, outscoring CUNY 14-6 over the next 20 points to take a 23-17 lead. After the Clippers clawed to 23-19, two Harder aces brought the Toros to 26-19, and an eventual kill by Ashley Lawler would bring game two to the Toros, 30-23.

Game three proved just as much excitement in the early going as the two squads battled to a 23-23 tie. The Toros ultimately would gain the upper hand behind Harder's strong serve as the Whittier native would serve out the match, capitalizing on three Clipper errors and two Spainhour bombs, the last of which closed out the match, 30-23.

Spainhour paced the Toros with 12 kills and 12 digs, while More chipped in 11 in the win.

For Concordia, Betsy Dunphy led her squad with nine kills and six digs, while the Toros out-aced their opponents, 11-5.

In other action, UC San Diego (3-0) left the Classic as the only undefeated team, sweeping Concordia (0-3) in the day's second match, 30-9, 30-16, 30-21. Brianne Koche paced the Tritons with 18 kills and a .667 hitting percentage, while Nicole Courtney added 12 kills and 12 digs. As a team, UCSD limited the Clippers to a -.034 hitting percentage, racking up an impressive .307 percentage of its own.

In the day's third match, Pt. Loma (3-1) won its third game of the year with a 30-10, 30-16, 30-20 sweep over the University of Bridgeport (0-3). Alderson's nine kills led PLNU's balanced attack as the Sea Lions outhit UB .416 to -.065 over the match. UB's Tijana Bokic, Julie Hafemann and Mary Charissis each tallied five kills in the loss.

UCSD's Nicole Courtney (OH) was named the Classic's MVP, and was joined by teammates in middle blocker Brianna Koche and setter Kimbery Adams. PLNU's Kate Alderson (OH) and UB's Tijana Bokic (OH) each represented her respective team, while the host Toros placed middle blocker More and libero Sylvia Bonilla (Los Angeles, CA/Fremont HS) on the All-Tournament team.

The Toros host non-conference foe Biola University on Wednesday, Augu! st 31, for a 7:00 p.m. first serve in the Torodome.