BATON ROUGE, LA — For the better part of two days, as its players and coaches sat in the purple bleachers and scouted their upcoming competition, San Diego volleyball watched as the environment at the Pete Maravich Center delivered everything that an SEC venue promises. 

The big, loud, enthusiastic crowds. The high-budget hype videos on the giant, four-sided video board. The light shows and the pregame pyrotechnics. The over-the-top public address announcer. The imposing opponent looming on the other side of the net with seven players checking in at 6-foot-2 or taller.

And then the Toreros (5-5, 0-0 WCC) silenced all of it, hardly giving tournament host LSU a chance as they sucked all the life out of the 13,215-seat arena with a suffocating sweep of the Tigers (8-3, 0-0 WCC) that may have surprised everyone in the building that wasn't wearing an "SD" logo on their hat or t-shirt.

They did it on the back of a signature performance from sophomore outside hitter Nemo Beach, who tallied a team-high 13 kills while hitting .293. Freshman setter Kylie Munday continued her rapid ascent, notching the sixth double-double of her young college career while directing the USD offense. Haylee Stoner (four block assists) and Madi Allen (19 digs) anchored a Torero defense that held the Tigers to a .113 hitting percentage.

"(It was) insane," said Beach, the reigning West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year. "Being able to believe in everyone, and seeing everyone put the pieces together and be disciplined, it was amazing to see."

San Diego went undefeated in the four-team LSU Invitational and didn't drop a set, winning all nine of its frames across three matches on Thursday and Friday after it made the 1,589-mile cross-country trip to Baton Rouge. The 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-22) throttling of a Power-5 opponent following a sweep of Boston College earlier in the day was just the finishing touch on a 2024 non-conference schedule that saw highs and lows for USD while testing a lineup that's skewed younger than past seasons. 

"I feel like our preseason as a whole really prepared us for where we are right now," head coach Jennifer Petrie said after the match. "We had faced some challenges early on in our season, but we wouldn't be playing at this level had we not had those tests."

Both Beach and Petrie stressed the importance of coming out strong on Friday night, and getting off to a fast start. It took the better part of a set for the Toreros to realize that goal, but they realized it nonetheless. USD and LSU were tied 10-10 and 20-20 in the opening frame before a service ace from Olivia Bennett and kills from Kennedy Osunsanmi and Beach helped the Toreros pull away and take a 1-0 lead. 

Osunsanmi punctuated a stunning San Diego run in the second set that stretched the visitors' advantage to a 10-point, 22-12 margin, helping USD author two-thirds of a thrilling win without all that much drama. 

LSU made things interesting in the third and final frame when it took a 10-7 lead, but a clutch service ace from Munday tied it at 10-10 ahead of a go-ahead combo block from Erland and Osunsanmi and the Toreros didn't trail again, holding strong even when the Tigers crept back within a point at 22-21.

"I'm really impressed with their ability to sustain success across three matches in two days, really good opponents," added Petrie. "Their ability to stretch the good, we've been working on that a lot." 

West Coast Conference play awaits for USD. The Toreros — who were picked second in this year's WCC Preseason Coaches Poll — will stay on the road next week to open up their WCC slate at Gonzaga. After putting it all together across a memorable, whirlwind two-day stretch in Louisiana, San Diego will look to ride its newfound momentum into the next stage of its 2024 campaign. 

"They've grown so much," Petrie said of her team postgame as the Toreros joyously filed out of the locker room behind her. "We're eager to get going in conference and start the quest for another WCC title."