August 26, 2006
La Jolla, CA -- CSUDH fell to Western Oregon University on the third and final day of the UC San Diego Triton Invitational, dropping a 3-2 heartbreaker to fall to 2-3 on the young season, and giving the Wolves their first win of the season. Freshman Penina Suddeth (Hesperia, CA/Hesperia HS) would lead the Toros with 15 kills and 15 digs, recording her fourth-consecutive double-double. For her efforts, the Hesperia native was named to the all-tournament team, recording 67 kills, 56 digs and 15 block assists.
After fighting tooth and nail yesterday and coming away with two wins, the Toros came out flat in game one, falling 30-17 as the Wolves hit .448 compared to the Toros' -.081.
CSUDH would begin to get things going early in game two behind solid serving by Tiffany Bull (Lake Los Angeles, CA/Antelope Valley College) and Sophia Lopes (Los Angeles, CA/Santa Monica City College) to jump out to a 7-3 lead.
The Wolves chipped away at the Toro lead and knotted the game at 14-14 on a Toro ball handling error, and then took the lead on the next play on a Shakira Jenkins kill.
CSUDH would recapture and lead a few serves later, but would not be able to break away from the Wolves, as the two teams remained within three points of each other for the remainder of the match until Maria Miranda (Lakewood, CA/Cerritos CC) recorded a service ace for the 30th and final point.
Games three and four would see the two teams follow the same pattern as the first two games, with Western Oregon winning game three and the Toros winning game four, forcing a deciding game five.
Although the Toros were no strangers to playing a fifth game after having played a game five in the first match each of the past two days, it appeared they may have been physically drained for their third 5-five game match in as many days. The Toro offense was only able to muster a .067 hitting percentage to the Wolves .375, as the Wolves took control and never looked back, cruising to a 15-9 win.
Western Oregon was led by Katrina Johnson with 15 kills and a .433 hitting percentage. Shakira Jenkins, Lisa Martini, and Brianne Sykes would also record double figures kills with 13, 11, and 10, respectively. The Wolves would utilize a 6-2 offense, with setters Amy Herron and Lisa Tedder each contributing 27 assists.
In addition to Suddeth's 15 kills and 15 digs, Lopes would be the only other Toro in double figures, chipping in 11 kills. Nicole Hoffman (Clovis, CA/Fresno CC) would have another strong performance in the middle, recording seven kills and five block assist, while hitting .278. Defensively, Miranda continued her excellent play as the Toros' libero, picking up 23 digs in the effort.
CSUDH will next be in action Tuesday, August 29, when they take on the Pirates of Armstrong Atlantic State University for the Toros 2006 home opener, with first serve scheduled for 7:30 pm in the Torodome.
