Box Scores
San Bernardino, CA – The Toros kicked off their 2007 campaign at the Coyote Classic with a tough draw, being swept (28-30, 14-30, 13-30) by No. 25 Southwest Minnesota State in the opener and falling 3-1 (34-32, 15-30, 21-28, 25-30) to Fort Lewis College despite double-doubles by Lauren Wells with 22 kills and 15 digs and Sophia Lopes with 12 kills and 17 digs. With the pair of losses the Toros fall to 0-2 on the season.
In the opener the Toros and the Mustangs started strong with neither team able to gain the upper hand, resulting in an early 12-12 tie.
After a pair of kills from Lopes and an SMSU attacking error, the Toros finally earned themselves a little breathing room by building a 15-12 lead.
The Mustangs charged back and tied the game at 15-15 on a kill by Erin Contons and took the lead on an ace serve by Sara Graf.
The teams continued to battle and remained locked at 24-24 before another kill by Contons gave SMSU the lead for good in its 30-28 win.
Games two and three were a blur as the Toros' attack stalled and their team attack percentage dropped from .125 in the first game to -.179 in the second and -.200 in the third as the Mustangs completed the sweep.
Toro junior Randi Johnson added eight kills and a team-high .263 hitting percentage.
In game one against Fort Lewis, the Toros found themselves down 20-14 after a kill by LeeAnne Greenwade.
Johnson fired back at the net for the Toros as she pounded down a set from senior Kayleigh Spratt to ignite the CSUDH comeback, spurring a run that saw CSUDH knot the game at 23-23 after back-to-back service aces from Spratt.
Both teams answered the challenged and found themselves knotted five more times until Ashley Clark recorded consecutive kills for the last two points on the game, and the 34-32 win.
After the long game one the Toros gas tank was on low as the Skyhawks blew out CSUDH in game two, 30-15.
CSUDH would be competitive in games three and four, but a consistent offense and defense by Fort Lewis kept the Toros at bay as they took the final two games and the match, 3-1.
In addition to the Toro double-doubles by Wells and Lopes, freshman Melissa Velasco picked up 15 digs as the libero.
The Toros will be back in action tomorrow for day two of the Coyote Classic, taking on Regis University at 10:00 am and No. 20 Seattle Pacific at 2:30pm.
