Stockton, Calif. - With a chance to make a statement at the top of the WCC standings, the Tigers suffered a gut-wrenching loss at the hands of San Diego as the Toreros rallied in five to down Pacific on Friday, Oct. 10. The loss marked the first time in 2014 the Tigers have dropped consecutive matches as Pacific fell to 14-5 overall and 3-3 in the WCC while the Toreros improved to 12-7 on the year and 5-2 in conference play.

Set scores for the match were: 25-27, 23-25, 27-25, 25-22, 15-13.

With both teams desperately needing a win to keep pace with BYU at the top of the standings, the night turned into a slugfest from the outset with the match coming down to who could land the last big blow. Early on, the Tigers had the Toreros on the ropes as Pacific took the opening two sets before San Diego was able to recover and counter with three-straight set victories to claim the match.

Through the first two sets of the night it appeared as if the Tigers were going to come up with a hard-fought three-set sweep of the visiting Toreros as Pacific came up with the shots needed to capture the opening two set advantage. In both sets, the Tigers were able to build an early lead that would stand up to the Toreros barrage late as the Tigers controlled the middle to start which allowed them to control the match. In the first set, senior Gillian Howard came out swinging as the she produced five kills on just seven attacks to lead the way. Her presence opened up the outsides for the Tigers' pin hitters as the second set was controlled by sophomore Lexi Elman and junior Kat Schulz as the duo each posted four kills while the Tigers hit .297.

Knocked down but not out, the Toreros were able to turn the match around out of the locker room as they were able to build a balanced attack while the Tigers' offense began to falter. Additionally, the Torero defense clamped down on Pacific, especially in the critical third set as San Diego came up with 26 digs and three blocks to take the set. In the third set, the Toreros took 13 more swings than the Tigers to overcome Pacific's block as the Tigers tallied five blocks and 21 digs but only came up with 11 kills.

A set later, the Tigers again had San Diego on the ropes only to let the Toreros off the hook and suffer a late slipup that would cost them the set. Again, the Tigers came up with five blocks in the set only to have San Diego overcome the Tigers' defense with a spread out attack that paid dividends late.

In the final race to 15, the Tigers faced an uphill battle from the outset as they fell behind early and were never able to get back over the hump. Throughout the set, Pacific was able to fight its way back six different times, only to be denied the critical turning point in the set by the Toreros. In the end, San Diego was able to come up with the swings when needed while also letting the Tigers make the critical mistakes the ended up solidifying the match for the Toreros.

Howard put together her best night of the season against the Toreros as the fourth-year middle came up with a season-high 16 kills on .517 hitting (16-1-29) while adding seven blocks. Elman finished with her team-best eighth double-double as she tallied 17 kills on 54 attacks while adding 18 digs. Junior Anne-Sophie Bauer came on late for the Tigers as she posted 13 kills on 44 swings while chipping in four blocks to Pacific's defense. The Tigers produced 15.0 blocks led by sophomore Alicja Wilk who tied a career best with eight blocks in the match. Defensively, freshman Katrin Gotterba recorded 23 of the Tigers' 83 digs while junior Mia Feiner added 12 and Schulz posted 11.

The trio of Alaysia Brown, Lauren Schad, and Jayden Kennedy came up with the offense when the Toreros needed most as the three accounted for 45 of San Diego's 74 kills. Brown led the way with 18 kills on 62 attacks while Schad added 14 kills on .500 hitting and Kennedy chipped in 13 including seven in the critical third set that turned the match. In addition to her kills, Schad produced nine blocks as the Toreros had 16.0 blocks to go along with 89 digs. Hunter Jennings led the defensive efforts with 31 digs while Jianna Bonomi produced 18 digs to go along with 30 assists.

The five-set loss was the second heart-breaking defeat for the Tigers on their home floor as Pacific missed an opportunity to upset then No. 5 USC to begin the season after taking the Trojans to the brink.

Pacific has little time to recover as the Tigers hit the road for a pair of matches in the Pacific Northwest as the Tigers start their roadtrip with a match against the suddenly redhot Bulldogs of Gonzaga. The first match of the trip is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 16 at 6:00 pm in Spokane, Wash.