San Diego def. Stanford 3-2 (22-25, 19-25, 25-18, 25-21, 15-11)

Many people, including us, figured Stanford would be one of the teams to beat this year. With First Team All-American middle Inky Ajanaku recovered from her ACL injury and the addition of the best recruiting class in the country, the Cardinal should have played lights-out.

That was not the case. In their season opener versus San Diego, Stanford got upset in five sets. The Cardinal went out to an 0-2 lead, but let the match slip away in sets three, four, and five.

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Sophomore outside hitter Lauren Fuller led the Toreros with 20 kills, while junior Merve Tanyel added three aces, and middle Addie Picha put away four solo blocks and three block assists.

As a team, San Diego out dug Stanford 66 to 53, but the Cardinal out-blocked the Toreros 20 to 14.  

2015's Freshman of the Year, Hayley Hodson, led Stanford with 13 kills, and Ajanaku posted an impressive .429 hitting percentage with 11 kills.

Stanford found redemption with a defeat of Minnesota later in the weekend, while San Diego fell to the Gophers.