Toreros Talk

Bakhtiari Named PFL Defensive Player of the Year
(USD) - USD senior defensive end Eric Bakhtiari (Burlingame, CA) was named the Pioneer League's Defensive Player of the Year. Bakhtiari, a Buck Buchanan Award candidate, led the FCS in pass sacks (20; 1.81 per game) and ranked 5th in tackles-for-loss (24.5; 2.09 per game). He finished with 76 tackles, 6 quarterback hurries and 4 forced fumbles for the 9-2 Toreros who shared the PFL championship with Dayton at 6-1. Bakhtiari was co-PFL Defender of the Year in 2006.

Women's Hoops Has Busy Weekend
The USD women's basketball team (2-2) will return to the friendly confines of the Jenny Craig Pavilion this week as they host Southern Utah University and the University of Dayton. On Friday, the Toreros will host Southern Utah in a 7 p.m. non-conference game and on Saturday, the Toreros welcome the Dayton Flyers to town for a 1 p.m. showdown. Southern Utah enters the week with an overall record of 1-2 after dropping a pair of games to Kansas State and Utah Valley State this past week. The Thunderbirds will play San Diego State before coming to the Jenny Craig Pavilion on Friday. USD holds an all-time series lead of 1-0, claiming the only match-up 61-50 this past season. Leading the Thunderbirds offensively is freshman forward Anne Westwood, who is averaging 11.3 points per game and 12.7 boards per game.

Volleyball Moves Up to #16
The Toreros volleyball team has move up two spots in the latest CSTV/AVCA top-25 poll to No. 16, marking the 14th consecutive week that the Toreros have appeared in the top-25.This past week, the Toreros concluded regular-season action with a pair of sweeps over Gonzaga University and the University of Portland. With both wins, the Toreros claimed a share of the West Coast Conference Championship with Santa Clara University. In Thursday's win over Gonzaga, Jaimarie Sutherland recorded a match-best 15 kills on 29 attempts to post a .345 attack percentage. Laurel Abrahamson and Ali Troost were the two other USD players in double-digit kills, as each had 11. Jessica Nyrop recorded a match-best 50 assists to help direct the team to a .277 attack percentage.