September 24, 2005

Box Score

Carson, CA -- Cal State Dominguez Hills junior Courtney Spainhour (Redondo Beach, CA/El Camino CC) notched career highs of 21 kills and 21 digs as the Toros ended their five-match losing streak, withstanding a furious Cal State Monterey Bay charge and holding on for a 30-23, 30-20, 22-30, 32-34, 15-13 win Saturday afternoon in the Torodome. With the victory, CSUDH improves to 4-7, 1-5 CCAA, while the Otters drop to 5-8 and remain winless in the CCAA at 0-6.

Game one saw the visitors take an 11-8 lead on one of 21 Toro serving errors on the afternoon. Spainhour, however, would take charge and lead CSUDH back as she blasted five kills in the frame, eventually putting the Toros ahead at 22-20. The serving of Timary More (Torrance, CA/El Camino CC) and numerous CSUMB errors would give the Toros game point at 29-23, where the last Otter attack error of the frame would do CSUMB in, giving the Toros a 30-23 game one win.

After CSUMB took a 10-7 lead early in game two, CSUDH again mounted its comeback, this time behind 10-consecutive points from Sylvia Bonilla's (Los Angeles, CA/Fremont HS) serve to give the Toros a 20-12 lead. The Otters would get as close as 20-14 on a Toro hitting error, but three kills by Ashley Lawler (Newhall, CA/College of the Canyons) and two each by More and Spainhour would help the Toros outscore CSUMB 10-6 the rest of the way in the Toros 30-20 game two win.

Despite 11 combined kills by Denise Herrera (El Monte, CA/ELAC) and Spainhour, the Otters made only four errors and outhit the Toros .270 to .086 in taking game three, 30-22, cutting the Toro lead to 2-1. After CSUDH looked as if it would take game four with four match points at 29-25, the Otters, behind seven kills by Brittany Etchings, would storm back to take a 30-29 lead. The two teams would exchange points until CSUMB's Courtney Taubert put away broke a 32-32 tie, and an ensuing Toro attack error would give CSUMB the final two points in the game four 34-32 marathon win.

The Toros stormed out of the gate in the final game, taking a commanding 8-3 lead on an Otter attack error. CSUMB, however, would again mount a valiant comeback, narrowing its deficit to 12-11 on a Taubert service ace. After kills by Herrera and More would give the Toros match point at 14-11, a Toro attack error and an Etchings bomb would again narrow the deficit to one at 14-13. Once again, however, Spainhour would come through as her 21st kill of the night would end the match emphatically, giving the Toros a hard-fought 3-2 win, their first conference victory of the season.

Spainhour tallied 75 total attacks in the win, moving into 2nd place on the Toros list for total attacks in a match, while Bonilla's 28 digs was just one dig shy of moving her into the top 10 for total digs in a single match. Herrera chipped in 17 kills as the Toros boasted four players with at least 10 kills. CSUMB's Etchings blasted 18 kills and contributed 21k ills, while Otter libero Jen Holda led her squad with 22 digs in the loss. As a team, the Toros hit .148 compared to the Otters' .076, but committed 13 more service errors than service aces in narrowly escaping with the win.

The Toros take to the road for nearly a month, battling powerhouses UC San Diego and Cal State San Bernardino next weekend as the first two of eight matches away from the Torodome. CSUDH returns home on Wednesday, October 19, for a 7:00 p.m. showdown with Cal State Bakersfield.