SAN DIEGO — The San Francisco volleyball team continued its late-season improvement Thursday against one of the best teams in the country, taking a set from host San Diego and leading in another, as the Toreros earned a four-set West Coast Conference decision, 3-1 (25-17, 25-15, 23-25, 25-19), over the Dons at Jenny Craig Pavilion.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Dons (8-18, 1-14 WCC) came right out and challenged the Toreros (14-10, 11-3 WCC), who are receiving votes in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association national poll. San Francisco led through the first 17 points of the first set. And even when San Diego scored four straight to take a 12-9 lead, the Dons came right back and tied the set at 13-13 on a 4-1 stretch that included three USD errors.
   
• But the Toreros finally asserted themselves with an 8-1 run that gave them a 21-14 advantage they would not relinquish. They scored 12 of the last 16 points with kills from six different players. The 25-17 set win would give USD an early 1-0 match lead.
   
• USD never trailed in the second set, starting off with an 11-3 run and later pulling farther away with a 7-2 stretch that gave them a 19-9 lead. The Toreros would come away with a 25-15 set victory that put them up 2-0 in the match.
   
• But San Francisco was not done. USF battled the Toreros throughout the third set, coming from behind to tie or take the lead on six different occasions. The final push came when the Dons scored four of the last five points in the set, erasing 22-21 and 23-22 deficits to come from behind and win the set, 25-23. The push included three kills from Kathya Garcia, with the final point coming on an error from the Toreros.
   
• USD would close out the match in the fourth set, never trailing in the frame but still having to hold off USF. San Diego got out to an early 9-2 lead and pushed that to 16-10, but the Dons slowly whittled away at the lead, including scoring four straight points to pull within two at 20-18. A kill from Katie Wagstaff and three other San Diego errors helped get the Dons back in the set. But USD scored four straight points with kills from three different players to end it.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 14: The Dons tied a season high with 14 blocks Thursday. Marjolijn Oskam led all players with seven of her own, while a total of five Dons had three or more stops.
• 24: Anna Dalla Vecchia totaled 24 digs, just one shy of her season high of 25 on Sept. 8 versus Southern Utah. She now has eight matches this season with 20-plus digs.

COMING UP

• The Dons face the No. 1 ranked team in the country Saturday in BYU. First serve is scheduled for noon PST in Provo, Utah. Fans can find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.