MORAGA, Calif. — San Diego volleyball swept West Coast Conference leader Saint Mary's 25-21, 25-13, 25-17 on Saturday afternoon at UCU Pavilion, hitting .444 to close a four-match road trip without dropping a set.
The Toreros (11-8, 6-3 WCC) snapped a six-match winning streak for Saint Mary's (13-9, 8-2 WCC). The Gaels had beaten San Diego in five sets at the Jenny Craig Pavilion exactly a month earlier, in the WCC opener for both teams.
San Diego hit .400 or better in every set and out-blocked the Gaels 8-0. Saint Mary's came in leading the WCC and ranking seventh nationally in aces per set, but the Toreros were aced only once in 47 serve receptions.
The Gaels erased a 20-17 deficit with three straight points in a first set that had 10 ties and four lead changes. Kierstyn Barton answered with kills on back-to-back rallies and added another for set point at 24-21, finishing the set with six kills and no errors.
Kylie Munday served the final three points of a 9-2 second-set stretch that turned a 3-3 tie into a 12-5 lead. Lauren Lynch later served three straight points, the last an ace, to make it 18-7. San Diego never trailed in the set, winning 13 of 14 rallies on Saint Mary's serve and hitting .519 with one error.
Six of San Diego's eight blocks came in the third set, and BayLea Sparks was in on four of them. With Munday serving, the Toreros recorded solo blocks on three straight rallies, two by Sparks and one by Nemo Beach, to push a 17-11 lead to 20-11. After the Gaels pulled within 22-16, Emma Brewer had two kills in the final four rallies, and Munday ended the match with a kill off a set from Lynch.
Brewer finished with a match-high 15 kills on .414 hitting and added a solo block for 16.0 points. Barton posted a double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs. She also had two solo blocks and handled a team-high 20 serve receptions without an error.
Beach added 10 kills, an ace, a solo block and a block assist for 12.5 points. Sparks hit .750, with six kills and no errors in eight swings, and Meghan Scholz had four kills and an ace.
Munday totaled 42 assists to go with two kills on two swings, an ace and five digs, and Lynch led all players with 16 digs.
Saint Mary's got 11 kills from Antonie Kelnárová and nine from Layne Dent, and Anaya Thrower hit .500 with six kills. The Gaels hit .177 and made 17 attack errors.
The Toreros' .444 was their third-best hitting mark this season, behind .457 against Arizona and .453 at Portland, and they have topped .400 in three of their last four matches. The win improved San Diego to 37-11 all-time against Saint Mary's, including 18-4 in Moraga, where the Toreros also won in three sets last season.
UP NEXT
San Diego returns to the Jenny Craig Pavilion for its Dig Pink match against San Francisco on Thursday, Oct. 29, at 7 p.m., then hosts Santa Clara on Saturday, Oct. 31, at noon. Both matches stream on ESPN+.
