Digging it at San Diego

C’era Oliveira didn’t have much time to enjoy San Diego’s win over Hawaii 10 days ago.

The 2010 Hawaii Baptist alumna had to make a quick turnaround after the Toreros stunned the Rainbow Wahine in five sets to end the season-opening Chevron Invitational on a Sunday evening at the Stan Sheriff Center.

After leaving the islands, USD returned to campus for two days before hopping a flight to the Midwest to take part in the Iowa State Challenge on Friday and Saturday.

As impressive as the Toreros were in beating Hawaii and taking previous No. 1 Texas to a fifth set, their ability to make the quick turnaround and beat a pair of ranked teams in Iowa State and Illinois was equally eye-opening.

“We went to three different time zones during the week and were tired, but we also knew that every game was important,” said Oliveira, who is USD’s starting libero. “Our sleep cycles were already messed up, but we just played and I think this will come in handy late in the year when we’re in the fifth set against (top) teams.”

Voters took notice of the Toreros’ performance, moving them ahead of Hawaii into the No. 9 spot in the latest AVCA Top 25 poll with one first-place vote.

San Diego was unranked before the season and has now taken down three top-20 opponents in a row.

Oliveira has already recorded 102 digs and is averaging a staggering 4.64 per set.

She ripped off a team-high 25 digs as USD bounced back from its only loss with a win over Hawaii.

“I was just really happy that my team came back from a loss,” Oliveira said. “We wanted to beat Texas so bad because they were the national champions last year and I thought it would take a big toll on the team, but we actually did better because it motivated us.”

The Toreros will get another shot at beating a No. 1-ranked squad in their home opener on Friday.

San Diego welcomes top-ranked USC as the Toreros play yet another team with national championship hopes in its first game of the USD Invitational.

“I didn’t know (our schedule) was going to be this tough, but it’s perfect because we get to play the
No. 1 team now, so if we beat them, I think we should be at least in the top three,” Oliveira said.

Oliveira was ranked No. 8 in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin Fab 15 her senior year and had scholarship opportunities elsewhere, but decided to walk on at San Diego.

By the time her freshman year ended, she had won the starting libero spot and was awarded a scholarship by the coaching staff.

“I had other offers, but I really liked the San Diego area and it’s a small, religious school, kind of like HBA,” she said. “The whole class that came in with me my first year was really good and we wanted to get on the court (immediately) because we thought for our senior year we could maybe win a national championship.”

It’s obviously a long way off with the season only two weeks old, but no team has made as much noise as the Toreros.

Oliveira said there’s a different feeling around campus about the volleyball team now than when she first came to school.

“We’re telling everyone about (Friday’s game) and the school is trying to market us more now because we’ve done so well,” Oliveira said. “A lot more people are recognizing our program and now we’ve got to keep it going and continue to get better.”