SAN DIEGO — San Diego volleyball (1-4, 0-0 WCC) roared to life with a stirring comeback win over UC Santa Barbara (2-4, 0-0 Big West) on Saturday evening, catching fire late to erase a 2-0 deficit and beat the Gauchos by a 3-2 margin in the final game of the Jack Talmadge Classic at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. 

The Toreros fell behind with 25-21 and 25-23 losses in the first two periods but responded with 25-23, 25-19, and 15-7 victories to steal the five-set win.

Sophomore outside hitter Nemo Beach scored 10 of her tied-for-career-high 18 kills in the final three frames to propel USD past the Gauchos, who were held to a meager .187 hitting percentage in the match by a San Diego defense that teamed up to record nine total blocks. 

Reigning WCC Freshman of the Week Kennedy Osunsanmi tied a career high of her own with 14 kills to secure her fourth double-digit scoring performance in her first five college matches, and senior middle blocker Haylee Stoner chipped in 11 while hitting a robust .320.

Though they didn't break through until late in the match, San Diego held modest leads in both of the opening frames, including being ahead by an 18-15 mark in the first and holding a 22-19 advantage in the second before twice allowing UCSB to finish strong and take an early lead.

Staring down a 13-9 deficit and a UC Santa Barbara sweep midway through the third, the Toreros kicked things into gear with a 6-0 run, tying the set at 14-14 via a Gaucho attack error. After Osunsanmi hammered a kill out of a UCSB timeout to make it 16-14 in her team's favor, the Toreros didn't trail again, and stayed alive with a 25-23 win despite UC Santa Barbara tying it at 23 all down the stretch.

A 4-0 run to open the fourth frame turned into a 6-1 run after another Gaucho timeout. Highlighted by a late service ace from Stoner to make it 18-15, USD held onto its early lead for a wire-to-wire win, sending the match to a decisive fifth set when Stoner found her mark again to close out a 25-19 decision.

UCSB flipped the script on USD to begin the final frame, jumping out to an early 3-0 lead before kills from Osunsanmi and Beach and a service ace from Olivia Bennett tied it. A bad UC Santa Barbara set put San Diego in front at 4-3 and prompted a pair of Gaucho timeouts that did little to slow the Toreros' march to victory, as Stoner found her mark for one last kill and Osunsanmi delivered a service ace to help San Diego close out the match on a 6-1 run and secure a stunning 3-2 comeback win.

Freshman setter Kylie Munday racked up a career-high 42 kills in the victory alongside 12 digs, and senior libero Madi Allen added 15 digs of her own.

After the match, Osunsanmi was named to the 2024 Jack Talmadge Volleyball Classic All-Tournament Team, joining Claire Jeter and Shania Cromartie from Arizona State, Lois Hansen from UC Santa Barbara, and Erin Jones from St. John's. The Sun Devils' Mary Scholl took home the tournament's Most Valuable Player honors.

The Toreros remain at home next weekend to host another multi-team event, welcoming BYU and Oregon to the Jenny Craig Pavilion for the San Diego Invitational.

San Diego will begin play in the tournament by clashing with the Cougars on Thursday night as the former WCC foes renew a longstanding rivalry. 

First serve is set for 7:00 p.m., and the match will be streamed live on ESPN+.