Athletics Roundup: Football Wins PFL Title; Volleyball Tops BYU; Soccer, Cross-Country, Basketball

With an overwhelming 52-20 home win against Morehead State on Nov. 16, San Diego captured its sixth straight Pioneer Football League championship and secured its fourth consecutive trip to the FCS Playoffs.

The Toreros (8-2, 7-0 PFL), who clinched their 11th conference title in program history, dominated both sides of the ball. Much like the entire conference season, USD had a balanced offensive attack — 266 rushing yards, 231 passing — to match a defense that shut out Morehead State (5-6, 3-4 PFL) for the first 43 minutes of the game.

Not only did USD capture its eighth conference championship in the last nine years but it also extended its conference winning streak to 36 games, tied for the second-longest streak in FCS history. It is the longest active streak in all of Division I.
 
Saturday was Senior Day as USD sent off its 12-man senior class with another home conference win. USD has won 38 consecutive home conference games, with the senior class going undefeated in their careers.
 
The Toreros' 52 points marked the third time in the last four weeks they scored 50+ points in a game. In the last three games, meanwhile, USD has outscored its opponents 152-34.
 
Redshirt senior quarterback Reid Sinnett threw four touchdown passes and ran for one while accumulating 224 yards on 18-of-30 passing. He spread his four touchdown passes among three different receivers, including two to sophomore Dalton Kincaid. Sinnett found the tight end from one yard out to send the Toreros into halftime with a 31-0 lead while he later connected again with him to cap USD's scoring and make it 52-6 with 11:10 left in the fourth quarter.
 
Kincaid, who had four catches for 58 yards, trailed senior Michael Bandy for the team lead in receptions and receiving yards. The wide receiver registered a 100-yard game, the 16th of his career, by hauling in eight passes for 103 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, USD forced four turnovers, including two interceptions and a pair of fumbles, while not turning over the ball once. David Tolbert and Hunter Nichols each had an interception, with Tolbert's being his team-best fifth this year.
 
San Diego also controlled the day through its rushing attack. Fifth-year senior JoJo Binda Jr. had 121 yards and two touchdowns, including a 50-yard scamper early in the second quarter that made it 17-0. Freshman Rhyle Hanson, in his first action of his career, added 71 yards on 11 carries.

Football Schedule: USD at Jacksonville, Saturday, 9 a.m., Jacksonville, Fla.

Women’s Volleyball

No. 24 San Diego knocked off No. 10 BYU, 18-25, 25-23, 24-26, 25-16, 15-9, in front of an electric crowd in the Jenny Craig Pavilion on Nov. 15 to take over first place alone in the West Coast Conference standings.
 
The Toreros (21-5, 14-1 WCC) were strong down the stretch, hitting .450 in the final frame of the five-set thriller to earn the season sweep over the Cougars (22-4, 13-2 WCC). It marks the first time the Cougars have been swept by a conference opponent since the 2011 season when USD did it then, too.
 
Three Toreros reached double-digit kills, led by Megan Jacobsen and Katie Lukes with 15 kills each. Jacobsen hit .480 and finished one kill shy of her career high. Grace Frohling also reached double-digits, adding 13 kills.
 
Jacobsen had four blocks (2 solo) to finish with a match-high 18 points for the Toreros. 

Anna Newsome turned in another strong performance, directing the offense to a .215 hitting percentage and collecting 56 assists — two shy of her career high. Newsome added three blocks (one solo) and her 10 digs was her seventh double-double of the season.
 
Lauren Turner led the defensive effort at the net with six blocks and Annie Benbow tallied a career-high 24 digs in the back court. 
 
Roxie Wiblin was instrumental in keeping the Cougars out of system, collecting three aces from the service line. Wiblin turned in an all-around strong night with eight kills, eight digs, and one block assist.

Volleyball Schedule: USD hosts Gonzaga, Thursday, 7 p.m., Jenny Craig Pavilion; USD hosts Portland, Saturday, noon, JCP; USD hosts Loyola Marymount, Nov. 26, 6 p.m., JCP.

Men’s Soccer

The objective this past week was simple for the men’s soccer team: win and keep your postseason hopes alive.

On Nov. 16, San Diego trailed early at Santa Clara, but three second-half goals enabled the Toreros to defeat the Broncos, 3-1 in the West Coast Conference regular-season finale.

Sophomore Alex Churness scored in the 54th and 62nd minute and senior Miguel Berry tallied his 17th goal of the season in the 87th minute to put the game away. Goalie Matt Wiher made four saves. The win did keep the team’s postseason hopes afloat.

This morning at 10, we’ll all find out if San Diego’s 12-5-1 season record (3-4 in WCC) is good enough to earn one of the 24 at-large berths into the 48-team NCAA Division I Tournament field. The men’s soccer selection show will be on NCAA.com. San Diego, which earlier this season was ranked among the Top 25 in the United Soccer Coaches poll, has continued to receive votes.

Cross-Country (Men and Women)

The San Diego men's and women's cross-country teams each secured a top-25 finish on Nov. 15 at the NCAA West Regional in Colfax, Wash.
 
The women finished 19th overall in the team standings, beating out Cal Poly and WCC opponents St. Mary's, Santa Clara and LMU. Junior Hannah Rasmussen paced the women, finishing strong to place 40th overall with a personal best 6K time of 20 minutes, 54.3 seconds. It is Rasmussen's best finish at the NCAA Regionals to date, as she finished 52nd overall in 2018. Cammy Manes also ran well as San Diego's second runner, finishing in the top 100 with a personal best in 21:36.1. Molly Klein and Madison Lambros ran as a unit to finish only one spot behind one another as the Toreros' third and fourth runners. Ally Roessling, Maggie Scholle, and Gianna Sbarbaro rounded out the pack for USD.
 
The men's team ran well and finished 22nd overall, beating out WCC foes LMU and St. Mary's. Ian Converse emerged as San Diego's No. 1 runner finishing the 8K race in 31:45.3. Joshua Thompson and Patrick Bruce rounded out the top three for USD, securing times of 32:09.3 and 32:14.4, respectively. Ethan Steiner and Jackson Pierce finished four and five for USD securing spots in the top 150 overall.

Men’s Basketball / Women’s Basketball

Basketball season has begun and both the men and women’s teams experienced some success in a busy week of nonconference action.

The men played three games in five days, including two on the road, last week and came away with its first home and first road win. The Toreros defeated Fresno State, 72-66 in overtime, on Nov. 12 in the Jenny Craig Pavilion, with Joey Calcaterra scoring 21 points, Marion Humphrey and Braun Hartfield tallying 17 and Jean-Marie James adding 11 points and 11 rebounds. Two days later, Calcaterra scored 21 again and USD beat host Weber State, 71-56. Hartfield and James each had 10 points and James added nine rebounds. The men closed out a busy week on Nov. 16 playing at No. 25 nationally ranked Colorado, a Pac-12 Conference team. An 18-0 second-half run keyed the Buffaloes’ 71-53 victory. Calcaterra and Noel Coleman led USD with 10 points each. Alex Floresca had eight points and Hartfield had seven points and seven rebounds. James had eight rebounds and four points.

The women’s team is two for two. Two games, two wins. A home win and a victory on the road. A perfect way to start the season. On Nov. 11, the regular-season schedule commenced in the Jenny Craig Pavilion and USD defeated Towson, 81-67, on the strength of Myah Pace, one of four players to score in double figures. Pace had 18 points, four assists and four steals. Jordyn Edwards had 14 points, five assists and four steals, Leticia Soares had 11 points and Ana Ramos scored 10. On Nov. 16, the team traveled to Colorado Springs and applied a strong defensive effort in a 70-59 win over Air Force. The Toreros held the Falcons to 34.9 percent shooting, forced 22 turnovers and had 11 steals. Offensively, USD again had four players score in double figures, led by Soares’ 16 (she also had eight rebounds). Madison Pollock had 13 points, Myah Pace had 12 points and three blocks, and Edwards scored 10. Patricia Brossmann had 12 rebounds and added seven points.

Men’s Schedule: USD hosts San Diego State, Wednesday, 8 p.m., Jenny Craig Pavilion; USD at Washington, Sunday, 7:30 p.m., Seattle, Wash.

Women’s Schedule: USD hosts Biola, Tuesday, 6 p.m., Jenny Craig Pavilion; USD at San Jose State, Saturday, 2 p.m., San Jose, Calif.

USD Athletics

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