Tigers Battle Setbacks at Home
Photo by André Souza
Volleyball Falls in Four Sets to San Francisco
Homecoming Saturday wrapped up with a conference volleyball showdown between the Tigers and the University of San Francisco (USF) at the A.G. Spanos Center, where the largest home crowd since 2018 saw the squad battle back from a weary first set before dropping sets three and four. Both teams came into the match with something to prove after slow starts in conference play, with the Tigers (7-10) having more success out of conference than the 3-13 overall Dons.
Despite coming off a big home win against Loyola Marymount (LMU), Pacific started the match on the back foot, as USF quickly built a six-point lead on the Tigers. Led by Olivia Keller, who finished the game with a team-high sixteen kills, Pacific began to rally, but was not able to come back from the initial 7-1 hole that the home team dug itself. The crowd's support was not enough to help Pacific sustain their momentum, and USF pulled away once more, taking the set 25-16.
Pacific came alive in the second set, however, keeping the score deadlocked until just before halfway when they banked seven, including two Olivia Keller aces, while allowing just one San Francisco point. An injury midway through the set suffered by redshirt freshman Mila Stojakovic, who had a season-high ten kills during the win against LMU, sparked the squad’s momentum even further. After sending the ball across the net off a set from senior Logan Blutreich, Stojakovic came down awkwardly on her left leg, tumbling onto the floor. She was helped off the court and did not return for the rest of the game. Seeing their teammate go down, the Tigers rallied, building an insurmountable lead against the Dons, who did not seem to have an answer for the home team’s offensive firepower. The Tigers finished the set with four aces, tallying half of their eight total aces in just one set. USF, meanwhile, finished the set with no service aces and five attack errors, succumbing to another late Pacific run that put the set out of reach, finishing 25-17.
After a brilliant second set, the Tigers began to lose momentum in the third, as a slow-burning, methodical Dons offense fatigued the home squad, causing numerous errors later. What began as a back-and-forth battle became lopsided, as Pacific’s four service errors were accompanied by just one ace. USF held a heavy advantage in both of those categories, with perfect serving and three aces. The Dons eventually pulled away to take the set, which ended with a scoreline of 25-18.
The Tigers came out fighting in the fourth, determined to push the match to five sets, and established a small early lead over the San Franciscans. They maintained the advantage until four consecutive USF kills flipped the lead to the Dons, catching the Tigers off-guard and giving momentum to the away team. The Dons continued to pull away as the set wore on, but a desperate final surge from Pacific kept the opposition two points away from victory as the Tigers reduced their deficit to just two. However, a USF kill and a Pacific attack error off the final two serves clinched the win for the Dons, ending the Tigers’ night in disappointment.
Pacific, while the stronger team statistically, struggled to find consistency on Saturday night, committing service errors at a rate much higher than normal. The Tigers faltered fifteen times from behind the endline, compared to just five from the Dons. The squads were evenly matched in virtually every other statistical area, but service errors, in addition to a noticeable blocking advantage, were enough to move the needle in San Francisco’s direction. The Tigers will be back at home on October 18th against Santa Clara, where they will look to regain momentum going into the back half of the season.