CARSON – Much like inside the Torodome, the Cal State Dominguez Hills volleyball team got off to a hot start to begin the 2019 season, sweeping both CCAA foes Humboldt State (25-10, 25-20 25-11) and the PacWest's Notre Dame de Namur (25-20, 25-20, 25-14) in three sets in its Toro Classic Friday.
 
Match 1 – CSUDH 3, Humboldt State 0
Sets one and two were in dominating fashion. The opening game saw the Toros go on a 12-point run to take a 15-3 lead while in the third set, Dominguez Hills started off winning the first nine serves and never looked back.
 
Humboldt practically made Dominguez Hills have to earn the win in the middle round. The Jacks had a 15-9 lead only to lose it when the Toros went on a 16-5 run to sneak through and win 25-20.
 
The Toros hit 20 percent of their attack attempts while the Jacks struggled to find the in-line, missing the target 36 times.
 
Match 2 – CSUDH 3, NDNU 0
The nightcap was a different tale for Dominguez Hills, despite taking the contest in three. Notre Dame would never let the lead slip in each round.
 
At one point, the Argonauts tied the second set at 14 apiece after playing a game of cat-and-mouse with the Toros, but a five-point run proved to be the difference in the set as it built enough space to make way for the win.
 
The third set was nearly identical. After two points were awarded to the Argonauts to cut the deficit to 16-14, it was the only win that point on as the Toros ran away to reach 25 for the match win.
 
Rylee Brown and Taylor Benitez-Fanslow led the way for the Toros in the attacking columns. Both combined for 21 kills but the senior Benitez-Fanslow made nearly 46 percent of her attacks. Both of them also reached the 10-dig mark for double-doubles.
 
The Toro Classic concludes Saturday with Dominguez Hills facing Academy of Art at 4 p.m. Prior to the match, the Urban Knights take on Humboldt State in the morning followed by the Jacks taking on the Argonauts.