LOS ANGELES — Everywhere the Toreros go this season, the excitement seems to follow.

A program-record crowd at Saint Mary's in early October. The week-long campaign to pack Bohler Gym in Pullman two weeks later. Hundreds of children, fueled by free pretzels and halloween candy, screaming right behind the San Diego bench at the Gersten Pavilion.

The results of those three matches? Sweep, sweep, and sweep.

"We've talked a lot about wanting to be the hunters, and not the hunted," head coach Jennifer Petrie said. "People are trying to hunt us all the time."

On Saturday, San Diego (18-4, 11-0 WCC) preyed upon a struggling LMU squad, hitting .408 as it blew past the Lions (5-15, 3-8 WCC) in straight sets to win its 11th consecutive game. Ava Durgan (.579) led all scorers with a career-high 13 kills. Setter Kylie Munday paced the match with 34 assists while adding eight digs, seven kills (.778), and four service aces. Olivia Bennett (13 digs) and Kali Engeman (three blocks) headlined the USD defense.

"We came in point after point and did a really nice job," said Petrie.

The Toreros started strong against LMU, ripping off a 12-5 run to begin set one before claiming a 25-15 decision to take a 1-0 lead. Set two was more of the same, with USD winning by an identical score to go ahead 2-0 behind four kills from Beach and three apiece from Durgan, Munday, and Engeman. Set three was more closely contested, featuring a match-high six ties scores and two lead changes, but San Diego was able to pull away late. After LMU knotted it at 17-17, kills from Clark, Beach and Munday helped spark an 8-3 match-sealing run that was punctuated by back-to-back kills from Durgan to win it.

As evidenced by Saturday's box score, San Diego's now eleven-match win streak has featured a variety of star performers. But to Petrie, the common thread for her team in this recent stretch of dominance has been its ability to stay in the moment.

"I think that we're doing a really good job of not looking back and not looking forward," she described. "We're just sticking with doing the task at hand."

Even when the task at hand involves playing at your best while a group of enthusiastic elementary schoolers yell at the top of their lungs behind your bench.

"I was really impressed with the fans that they had in the gym this afternoon," Petrie added after the match. "It was pretty exciting to be able to execute (in that environment)."

NOTABLE

• Saturday's victory marked the Toreros' first at the Gersten Pavilion since 2022.
• USD held LMU to a .179 hitting percentage.
• Beach totaled 11 kills, seven digs, two service aces, two assists, and a block.

UP NEXT
The Toreros are off on Thursday before returning to the Jenny Craig Pavilion on Saturday, November 8 to host Saint Mary's. First serve against the Gaels is set for 12:00 p.m.