SPORTS ALMANAC

How Sweet It Is!

Volleyball Team Advances to NCAA Sweet 16

by Michael R. Haskins

OK, let’s all take a deep breath before we recount the achievements of this year’s volleyball team. Ready? This year, the Toreros reached their highest-ever national ranking, notched 24 victories against only five losses, scorched through the West Coast Conference with a perfect 14-0 record, hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament at the Jenny Craig Pavilion, became the first Division I team in USD history to reach the final 16 of a national tournament and boasted the WCC’s Coach of the Year, Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.

Could the season have been any better?

“Well, we could have won those five matches,” says head coach Jennifer Petrie with a laugh and a shrug. “But our goal at the outset of this year was to win the WCC and break into the NCAA round of 16, so we have a lot to celebrate. The ultimate goal of a national championship is still out there, but this year we set new standards for what this program is about.”

Indeed. The Toreros weren’t ranked among the nation’s top teams before the season began, but the oversight was quickly rectified. The squad eventually earned a No. 11 national ranking from the American Volleyball Coaches Association, and won six times against AVCA Top 25 opponents. The Toreros reeled off 18 consecutive victories before their final loss of the season, in the Dec. 10 NCAA regional against USC, a two-time national champion team that went on to finish among the top four teams.

The season was a dream come true, say the Toreros, who in 2003 were knocked out in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

“We had a rough spell at the end of last season, so we started working on this season in January,” says senior Devon Forster, the WCC Player of the Year. “We didn’t lose any starters, and we came back with the attitude that we were capable of not just playing with the best teams, but that we could dominate and put matches away.”

The team’s accomplishments were recognized when USD was selected as a host site for the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament, on Dec. 3-4. Nearly 1,200 fans packed the Jenny Craig Pavilion each night, and were treated to the Toreros’ first-round sweep of New Mexico State and a nail-biting five-game win over Arizona that advanced USD into the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history.

“The energy in the gym was instrumental in getting that victory over Arizona,” says Petrie. “The girls were tired, but the excitement of the crowd helped them get through and earn a hard-fought victory. It’s a night we will never forget.”

First Team All-WCC setter Lindsey Sherburne provided the team with crucial points in game five that set the stage for the victory.

“The heart and soul of that team was the setter (Sherburne),” said Arizona head coach David Rubio after the match. “She runs that team and at the end of the match, she made plays for them … and put the match away.”

Sherburne, a junior, is one of four Toreros selected to this year’s First Team All-WCC, joined by Forster, senior Kristen Hurst and sophomore Emily Haas. Junior Jackie Bernardin was selected as the WCC’s Defensive Player of the Year.

“The success we had this season was because of a major team effort,” says Petrie, whose record at USD is 125-54, with five NCAA Tournament appearances. “No program can be this successful without an overall amazing effort.”

In their last match of the season, the Toreros put up a valiant effort against a dominant offensive USC squad that had a significant height advantage, that ultimately proved too much for USD, a team built on speed and ball control. USC rolled out to a substantial 13-5 lead in the first game, winning by a final score of 30-26. The Toreros took one game, 30-25, but lost the match by a final score of 3-1.

“We started out slowly,” said Hurst after the match. “During the games we lost, we had too many streaks of errors and it was hard for us to catch up.”

Despite the loss, Petrie says the Toreros ended the season on a high note. The awards and recognition are well-deserved, but Petrie says the true impact of this season will be felt over the long-term.

“We’ve had a lot of success in the past, but still struggled at times to bring that name recognition to the program,” she says. “The national exposure we received this year changed all that, for our fans, our recruits and the university.”