SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Closing out their week at home, the Univeristy of San Francisco volleyball team (0-18, 0-10) kept close with Pacific (8-13, 5-5) on Saturday afternoon at War Memorial at the Sobrato Center, but ultimately fell to the Tigers, 3-0.
 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• Logging the first points of the match, the Dons got on the board to open the contest as a service ace from Letizia Aquilino and a kill from Hannah Kinnison put USF on top 2-0 to begin the first set. One point later, the Tigers responded with a 7-0 run to jump in front, but the Dons answered the rally by following with a 5-0 run of their own to even the match at seven all. Shortly thereafter, Pacific used another run, this time a 6-2 stretch, to regain their advantage midway through the match, 12-8. After back-to-back kills from Lana Kutakhina and Shyia Richardson brough USF to within one, 19-18, the Tigers would go on to outscore the Dons 6-4 in the closing moments to secure their first match point, 25-22.
• Similar to set one, USF attacked early and found themselves on top again 2-0, but Pacific once again flexed their muscle with an 8-2 run to go back in front, 8-4. As the two sides exchanged points in the minutes to follow, it would be the Tigers who would pull away to finish the set as another 5-1 stretch pushed UOP past the Dons, 26-24.
• Beginning in an almost identical fashion, USF raced out to a 3-1 advantage in the third set after kill from Kinnison and Sophie Sydenham. Aiming to defend their home court, the Dons would remain neck-and-neck with the Tigers until halfway through the set. Ultimately, Pacific responded again with an 8-1 run to retake their lead, 19-15. Applying pressure late, USF would cut their deficit to just one point, 23-22, following two attack errors from the Tigers and another kill from Sydenham. Unfortunately, this is as close as the Dons would get as Pacific answered with two points to close out the set, 25-22 and secure the match victory.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• Notably, Richardson tallied a team-high 10 kills on Saturday afternoon, marking the 9^th time this season that the freshman has recorded double-digit kills.
• Defensively, Letizila Aquilino paced the Dons with 13 digs, marking the ninth time the Italian has reached double-digit digs.
• Finding some rhythm at the net, USF logged five solo blocks against the Tigers (Wagstaff 2, Sydenham 1, Staka 1, Kinnison 1), which is the second-most in a match for the Dons as a team this season. 

UP NEXT:
Looking ahead, USF will hit the road as they travel to Provo, Utah to square off against BYU on Thursday, October 28 at 6:00 pm PT. Live streaming and live stats will be available via the team's schedule page.
 
FOLLOW US:
For more information and updates on the University of San Francisco volleyball program, be sure to follow the Dons on Twitter @USFDonsVB, @USFDonsVB on Instagram and @USFDonsVball on Facebook.