USD Volleyball 1994

1993 YEAR-IN-REVIEW

USD Volleyball Program Comes of Age... Toreros qualify for NCAA Tournament

The 1993 season became a year filled with firsts ...season sweeps of San Diego State and Pepperdine , championship titles at the USO Invitational and San Diego City Championships, a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Nikki Wallace didn't know the school's win– loss record when she decided on USO five years ago but she was enthusiastic about the new coach, Sue Snyder.Under Snyder, Wallace would go on to: • Establish six wee blocking records • Become nation's leading active blocker • Become first USO player to record 1,000 kills.

Working for the first time with a team she en– tirely built, Sue led San Diego to a 16-1 start, including nine straight victo– ries to open the season . A

w

at CS Northridge vs. Weber State# w vs. Tex-San Antonio# w vs. Eastern Illinois# w vs. Northern Iowa# w vs. Pt. Loma Naz.& w vs. San Diego State& w vs. St. Mary's+ w vs. UC Irvine+ w at UC Berkeley+ L at CS Fullerton w at Cal Poly SLO w vs. Portland' w vs. Gonzaga' w at CS Sacramento w at St. Mary's' w at Pepperdine' w at Loyola Marymount' L vs. Santa Clara' L vs. San Francisco' w vs. Pepperdine' w vs. Loyola Marymount' W at Portland' w at Gonzaga' L vs. CS Northridge w vs. St. Mary's' w at Santa Clara' L at San Francisco· w vs. San Diego State w at Washington State% L # USO Invitational & San Diego City Champ. + Cal Invitational ·wee % NCAA Tournament

3-1 3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0 3-0 3-1 3-1 3-1 0-3 3-0 3-1 3-1 3-0 3-2 0-3 0-3 3-0 3-2 3-2 3-1 3-1 3-1 2-3 3-2 3-0 2-3 3-1 3-0 1-3

Amy McMahon (/) and Jennifer Wrightson (r) approach the net against San Diego State.

healthy Jennifer Wrightson registered 422 kills, by far a single-season best at USO. Newcomer Amy Boyer (transplanted from UCLA) set the ball in all the right places, recording a school-record 1,321 assists. USO was just as exciting a team to watch defensively, averaging just over three blocks a game to finish 11th nationally. The "Brick Wall " tandem of Wallace and Amy McMahon stuffed opponents all season . Not surprisingly, USO fin– ished atop most of the wee blocking charts. A dramatic five-set victory over Loyola Marymount in the Sports Center may have been a turning point in the season. The Lions, one of four regionally-ranked teams USO would beat, were a sure-bet for the NCAAs. San Diego proved it could play with the better teams and reinforced that fact when they pushed Santa Clara to the limit two weeks later. The end result was an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament when the Toreros took a game from Washington State in a first round loss.