Torero Athletics: Volleyball, Football Wins Highlight a 6-1 Weekend for USD Teams

A combined 6-1 record for volleyball, football, men and women’s soccer teams left a lot to feel good about for the fall sports teams at the University of San Diego this past weekend.

Volleyball defeated San Francisco in four sets and swept Santa Clara in road matches to open West Coast Conference play. The football team handled Butler in the Pioneer Football League opener, the Brian Fogarty PFL Classic, at Torero Stadium. Men’s soccer earned a pair of shutout nonconference wins and women’s soccer concluded its nonconference schedule Sunday with a road win at Cal State Northridge, a result that can only be a boost as first-year head coach Louise Lieberman’s team prepares for its WCC opener this week. 

Volleyball

West Coast Conference play is always a meaningful time of the season for USD women’s volleyball. Since Coach Jennifer Petrie took over as head coach, the Toreros have been the top program in the WCC. Since 1999, Petrie's first year as head coach, USD has a 211-63 (.770) record in conference matches. Since 2004, the Toreros have finished first or second place in the WCC in all but one season.

Jayden Kennedy and Roxie Wiblin each had 14 kills and Kaity Edwards chipped in 11 in the No. 17-ranked Toreros’ four-game set win Sept. 21 against San Francisco, 23-25, 25-10, 25-12, 25-17. Against Santa Clara on Sept. 23, the same trio led USD’s offense to the 26-24, 25-19, 25-19 victory. Kennedy had 13 kills, Edwards had 12 and Wiblin 10. It marked the eighth three-game sweep of the season for USD (9-3 overall, 2-0 WCC). 

Following the road WCC wins, the Toreros are back at the Jenny Craig Pavilion this week. USD plays their WCC home opener at 6 p.m. tonight against Loyola Marymount, followed by a noon match-up against BYU on Saturday. 

Football

The winningest head coach in USD football history, Brian Fogarty, did the opening coin flip for the Toreros’ Pioneer Football League opener at home and soon after that, in what is now known as the Brian Fogarty PFL Classic, USD routed Butler 38-17 on Sept. 23. 

The win improved USD’s home PFL game win streak to 28. The key reason for this latest win was the play of PFL Offensive Player of the Week, redshirt junior quarterback Anthony Lawrence, who completed 26 of 39 passes for 367 yards and five touchdowns. USD recorded 499 yards of total offense, averaged seven yards per play and the 38 points was a season-high for USD (2-2, 1-0). 

The five TD passes tied a career-high for Lawrence, who also had five in an Oct. 22, 2016 USD victory against Valparaiso. 

On Saturday, wide receiver Justin Priest had nine receptions for 148 yards and three touchdowns (5, 4 and 23 yards) and Ross Dwelley had six catches for 101 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown reception. Zack Holland had the other touchdown, a 9-yard reception. Freshman running back Emilio Martinez had 93 yards on 13 carries to pace the rushing attack. 

Patrick Murray added a 35-yard field goal for USD. 

The Toreros now travel to Ohio to face Dayton (1-3, 0-1) in a PFL showdown. Kickoff is at 9 a.m. (Pacific Time). The teams have long been rivals. Dayton holds a 16-8 lifetime record against San Diego and has won 12 PFL titles (USD is second with eight). 

Women’s Soccer

A 3-0 road loss to Cal State Fullerton on Sept. 22 was difficult, but when Summer Mason scored twice early on Sept. 24, it gave the San Diego women’s soccer team a 2-0 nonconference victory at Cal State Northridge. 

The Toreros played well defensively against the Titans, who scored on a penalty kick in the 35th minute. USD kept Fullerton at bay until the latter converted twice in the game’s final nine minutes. 

But on Sunday, Mason scored both of her goals in less than 20 minutes. She doubled her season goal total and now leads USD with four. Mina Ghazizadeh assisted on Mason’s first goal, while Halle Walls provided the helper on the second. 

Goalkeeper Amber Michel made sure the Toreros (2-8) remained ahead, making seven saves in the first half, including one on a penalty kick. The Matadors only had two shots in the second half, neither on net. 

The victory gave the Toreros a boost heading into its WCC opener this Friday at 6 p.m. (Pacific) at BYU. 

Men’s Soccer

At home against Cal State Northridge on Sept. 21, USD’s Freddy Polzer and Miguel Berry scored a goal and assisted on each other’s goal in a men’s soccer 2-0 nonconference win. 

Polzer’s goal off a rebound shot by Berry broke the game’s scoreless tie in the 57th minute. Berry then tallied in the 61st minute on a header off a perfectly placed cross by Polzer. 

Sunday’s win at San Jose State came on the strength of Aidan Marmion’s first collegiate goal only three minutes into the game. Berry had the assist for USD (5-3-1). 

Goalkeeper Thomas Olsen stopped five shots in the win against Northridge and three saves against San Jose State to notch his third and fourth shutout wins of the season. 

The men’s team now has a week-long break from action as it prepares for the start of conference play on Oct. 8 with a 5 p.m. game against Loyola Marymount. 

Cross Country

The USD men and women’s cross-country teams will travel to Lawrence, Kansas this week to compete in the Rim Rock Farm Collegiate Classic event this Saturday. The women’s six-kilometer race will go first at 7 a.m. (Pacific time), followed by the men’s 8K race at 8 a.m. (Pacific). 

The Toreros last competed on Sept. 16 when both teams finished third in their respective races at the USD-hosted invitational at Mission Bay. 

Keep up with all USD Athletics news, scores and information by visiting the website and following the Toreros on social media: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.