SAN DIEGO — Thirty-seven days ago, San Diego traveled to Moraga and beat Saint Mary's in straight sets at the UCU Pavilion in what marked its first West Coast Conference sweep of 2025.

On Saturday, as their schedule turned the corner to its home stretch, the Toreros played the Gaels again, this time at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

And they needed every bit of all five sets to keep their league-leading win streak alive.

"Kudos to Saint Mary's," USD head coach Jennifer Petrie said after the match, "for getting better all season long."

With the Gaels (8-15, 6-6 WCC) serving on match point in set four and the Toreros' undefeated conference record in peril, two SMC attack errors and a clutch kill from Nemo Beach pushed the game to a decisive fifth set. 

Cue the collective exhale (both from the crowd and the USD bench). 

Cue, on an afternoon full of unlucky breaks for San Diego (19-4, 12-0 WCC), a 15-5 run to finish the match that felt like things were finally going the home team's way for the first time all day.

Thirty-two ties and 17 lead changes later, it was a gritty 3-2 (22-25, 25-20,19-25, 27-25, 15-5) win that showcased the Toreros' maturity, composure, and grit, even if they didn't play at their best at all times. 

"Our message is always to stay in the present," Petrie described of her team's approach while staring down a 2-1 deficit. "You can't think about the past points, and you can't think about what's gonna happen in the future."

Isabel Clark paced the match with 16 kills, Beach had 15, and reigning WCC Freshman of the Week Ava Durgan added 10 more as she scored in double digits for a second consecutive match. Fellow first-year Lauren Lynch (a career-high 19 digs) and High Point transfer BayLea Sparks (a career-high 10 block assists) anchored the Torero defense. 

"They all stepped up at certain points in the match," said Petrie. "There wasn't one person that I felt like carried us." 

But at the center of it all once again was Kylie Munday, who led the way for USD with a dominant double-double that featured 51 assists, 12 digs, four blocks, three service aces, and a pair of kills.

"She's the one who makes us go, she makes good decisions and puts people in good positions," Petrie described of her setter. "She steadied our team today."

With the victory, San Diego's win streak moves to 12, the program's longest since its 28-game unbeaten run in 2022 that saw it reach the NCAA National Semifinal. The first-place Toreros remain atop the WCC standings as the league's only undefeated squad, and will enter next week's action with a two-game lead on second-place Pepperdine.

"Everyone's looking to hunt us down," Munday said in a post-match interview. "Our big mentality right now is to be the hunters. Everyone is going to play their best against us…so we just have to stay united, play USD volleyball, and trust ourselves."

NOTABLE

• Lynch added three service aces, which was one shy of her career high.
• Bennett totaled 15 digs.
• USD out-blocked SMC 17.0 to 12.0.
• At two hours and 31 minutes, Saturday's match was tied for San Diego's third-longest of 2025.

UP NEXT
The Toreros will hit the road next week to continue WCC play, traveling to Oregon State on Thursday (November 13) for a 6:00 p.m. matchup against the Beavers (15-7, 9-3 WCC) at Gill Coliseum.