San Diego Upsets No. 24 UCSB
Toreros come back from two- game deficit to win in five NCAA 1st Round Action
Long Beach, CA- The University of San Diego Toreros overcame a two-game deficit to come back and win 26-30, 26-30, 30-28, 30-27, 15-10 over No 24 ranked UCSB in a highly competitive two and a half hour match in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the Pyramid.
UCSB (17-14) won the first two games 30-26, 30-26 and led 21-14 in the third when USD (22-8) came roaring back, scoring six straight points to win 30-28 and stay alive.
The resurgence continued in the fourth set as the Toreros led 27-14 and held off a furious Santa Barbara rally to win 30-27. Santa Barbara rattled off nine straight points to pull to 27-23. A service error by Danielle Bauer ended the comeback and San Diego forced the fifth and final game.
In the fifth, a Devon Forster kill put Santa Barbara's season to an end, taking the game 15-10 and the match 3-2. Forster led San Diego ripping off 22 kills with a .300 hitting percentage. Debra Robertson also contributed 18 kills for the Toreros.
The Gauchos were led by middle attacker Daniel Bauer who recorded 25 kills and ten blocks. Brie Lampe added 15 kills and a .342 hitting percentage in the loss.
USD will face the winner of the San Diego State/Long Beach match up at 7:30 PM tomorrow. Box Score
QUOTES FROM UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO
Jennifer Petrie, San Diego Head Coach
(On the match) "This was a thrilling match for us. It's a great testament to what hard work and determination can do. We've been in situations where we've been up against bigger teams and we haven't been there. I think tonight we kind of arrived as a team."
(On taking out Noel Frohman for Jocelyne Roy for the third game) "Frohman is sick. In today's serve and pass practice, she didn't hit any balls. She didn't feel very good and it was obvious in the first two games. She (Roy) got the job done that we were sorely missing in the first two games."
"We're excited about tomorrow. We were hoping to get the opportunity to play them again. Tomorrow's another opportunity to give them another shot. Not too many teams get another chance."
Devon Forster, Freshman, San Diego Outside Hitter
(On the turnaround) "I think at the beginning we were a little tight. They (UC Santa Barbara) came out with a lot of digs that we weren't expecting. I think we made some adjustments and started winning some of those rallies."
Jocelyne Roy, Freshman, San Diego Outside Hitter
(On the comeback) "We were getting good swings from the front row. We really came together as a team in the third game and started believing we were going to win. I don't think we ever thought it was going to be impossible."
QUOTES FROM UC SANTA BARBARA
Kathy Gregory, UC Santa Barbara Head Coach
"I'd like to congratulate San Diego. It was a great comeback and it was a disappointing loss for UC Santa Barbara. I thought we were in control, even though the first two games weren't easy. We maybe thought the match was over. We didn't play very well in the fourth game, but I thought after we came back in Game 4, we'd have some momentum for the fifth game. But winning is about making plays and playing well together and USD did that better. We had chances, but they played better than we did in game five and better at the end of the match and they deserved it."
Gregory on Games Three and Five "The ineffectiveness to put away game three hurt us, and in game five, we made the errors and in rally scoring you need to make things go your way and we didn't. We had a lot of chances, but USD played better as a team."
Erica Menzel, UC Santa Barbara Sophomore Outside Hitter
On looking forward to Long Beach State after winning the first two games "I don't think we were as much looking forward to Long Beach as that we thought we had the game in the bag. We just kind of let down too fast."
Menzel on the Game Four comeback "We just put it all out onto the court and we had nothing to lose. We wanted the game so bad, but the last few errors hurt us."
Danielle Bauer, UC Santa Barbara Junior Middle Blocker
On the delay of game at 29-27 of Game Four "I had a bad toss. I don't think it had anything to do with the delay. I should have swung deep, but I didn't." |
