SAN DIEGO — The Toreros (7-6, 2-1 WCC) host the West Coast Conference's top two teams this week at the Jenny Craig Pavilion, with LMU (13-2, 4-0 WCC) visiting on Thursday night and Pepperdine (11-4, 3-1 WCC) on Saturday afternoon. San Diego enters off back-to-back league sweeps and went 4-0 against the Lions and Waves on the way to last season's WCC title.

First serve is set for 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8, and noon on Saturday, Oct. 10. Both matches will be streamed live on ESPN+, with Torero broadcaster Braden Surprenant on the play-by-play call.

Live statistics will be available on StatBroadcast.

WHAT'S AT STAKE: THE WCC'S TOP TWO COME TO THE JCP
• San Diego (7-6, 2-1 WCC) closes its seven-match homestand against the top of the West Coast Conference standings. LMU (13-2, 4-0 WCC), the only team without a league loss, visits Thursday on a six-match winning streak, and Pepperdine (11-4, 3-1 WCC), tied with Saint Mary's for second, follows Saturday.

• The Toreros are tied with Portland for fourth, a game and a half behind LMU and a half-game behind Pepperdine and Saint Mary's. A win Thursday would hand the Lions their first conference loss and pull San Diego even with them in the loss column. USD's lone league loss came in five sets against Saint Mary's on Sept. 24.

• It's also San Diego's first look at the teams picked second (Pepperdine) and third (LMU) behind it in the WCC preseason coaches poll.

• Last season, USD went 4-0 against LMU and Pepperdine on the way to an 18-0 WCC record, winning 12 of 15 sets, and clinched the conference title with a Nov. 20 sweep of the Waves at the JCP. Seven players from those four matches are back.

• After Saturday, San Diego plays four straight road matches and doesn't return to the JCP until Oct. 29. The rematches with Pepperdine (Nov. 12) and LMU (Nov. 14) come back-to-back on the road.

LAST TIME OUT: SAN DIEGO PUSHES PAST DENVER FOR SECOND STRAIGHT SWEEP AT THE JCP
• San Diego swept Denver 25-14, 25-16, 25-23 on Oct. 3 at the Jenny Craig Pavilion for its second straight WCC sweep, in the programs' first meeting as West Coast Conference opponents.

• The Toreros hit .400 (49-11-95), their second-best mark of the season behind .457 against Arizona, and held a Denver team that came in leading the WCC in kills per set to 27 kills and .155 hitting. San Diego served six aces and was charged with one reception error in 49 serve-receive attempts; Denver was charged with six, one for each Torero ace.

• San Diego never trailed in the first set and held the Pioneers to .000 hitting, with seven kills against seven errors. Up 6-5, the Toreros scored five straight — a Ryann Knuth kill, then four points on Kierstyn Barton's serve, two of them aces — to force a timeout at 11-5. All five of USD's blocks came in the set, with Meghan Scholz in on four, and Belle Groomes checked in at 24-14 and ended it with an ace.

• After five ties to open the second set, an 8-2 burst ended with three straight points on Kylie Munday's serve, the first an ace, and Groomes later served three in a row for a 19-11 lead. San Diego hit .531 in the set (20-3-32), and Nemo Beach had five kills on seven error-free swings before serving the final two points, starting with an ace.

• Denver scored five straight to turn a 12-10 deficit into a 15-12 lead in the third and still led 17-15 before San Diego ran off four in a row, the last three with Munday serving. Barton's kill capped the run for a 19-17 lead, and she added kills at 20-18 and 22-20. Knuth made it 23-21, and after the Pioneers got within 24-23, Beach ended the match with a kill off a Munday set.

• Knuth led all players with 13 kills and 13.5 points on .478 hitting (13-2-23) and added six digs. Beach had 11 kills on .400 hitting and passed all 16 serves she received, Scholz hit .583 with eight kills and four block assists, and Barton added nine kills, eight digs and two aces. Munday handed out 33 assists, and Lauren Lynch led USD with 11 digs.

LAUREN LYNCH NAMED WCC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• San Diego volleyball's Lauren Lynch has been named the WCC Defensive Player of the Week for Oct. 5, 2026, the West Coast Conference announced on Monday afternoon.

• Lynch, a sophomore libero from Burbank, Calif., had a team-high 11 digs in USD's 3-0 win over Denver on Saturday and passed all five serves she received without an error. She added four assists and an ace, and late in the first set she served three straight points for a 23-11 lead, setting up a Kierstyn Barton kill along the way before she finished the run with the ace.

• This is the first-ever WCC award for Lynch, who is the third Torero to earn a WCC weekly honor this season. She joins outside hitter Emma Brewer, who was named Freshman of the Week on Sept. 21, and junior Kylie Munday, who was named the conference's Setter of the Week on Aug. 31.

• Lynch is the first Torero to be named WCC Defensive Player since Olivia Bennett on Nov. 24, 2025.

2026 WCC WEEKLY HONORS
• Kylie Munday, Setter of the Week (Aug. 31): 115 assists (11.50 per set), 33 digs, 6.0 blocks and three aces as USD went 2-1 in Honolulu. Fifth career weekly honor.

• Emma Brewer, Freshman of the Week (Sept. 21): 23 kills (3.29 per set), 16 digs, 7.0 blocks and two aces in wins over Arizona and San Diego State. First career weekly honor.

• Lauren Lynch, Defensive Player of the Week (Oct. 5): 11 digs, four assists and an ace in a 3-0 win over Denver, passing 5-for-5 in serve receive. First career weekly honor.

ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS LMU
• The Toreros lead the all-time series, 50-44.

• USD and LMU most recently faced off last season on Nov. 1, 2025, when it swept the Lions by a 3-0 margin at Gersten Pavilion in Los Angeles.

• The Lions tested the Toreros in the two teams' matchup at the Jenny Craig Pavilion last season (Sept. 27), taking a 2-0 lead before USD roared back to life and engineered a reverse sweep to earn a 3-2 win.

ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS PEPPERDINE
• The Waves hold a 45-39 record over the Toreros in the all-time series, but USD has won each of the two teams' last four matchups dating back to 2024.

• USD and Pepperdine last played one another on Nov. 20, 2025, when the Toreros swept the Waves before a season-high crowd of 1,103 at the Jenny Craig Pavilion to clinch a share of the 2025 West Coast Conference Championship.

4-0 IN 2025: RETURNING TOREROS VS. LMU AND PEPPERDINE
• Seven current Toreros played in San Diego's four 2025 wins over LMU and Pepperdine, in which USD hit .307 (217-56-525) to the opponents' .204 (169-63-520) and out-killed them 217-169. Returners accounted for 128 of those kills.

Against LMU (2-0 in 2025)
• San Diego won six of eight sets against LMU and hit .336 (111-24-259), and current Toreros accounted for 76 of the 111 kills. After coming back from two sets down to win 3-2 at the JCP on Sept. 27, USD swept the Lions at Gersten Pavilion on Nov. 1 while hitting .408 with six attack errors on 103 swings, its best mark in the four matches against LMU and Pepperdine.

• In the Sept. 27 comeback, the Toreros hit .148 while dropping the first two sets, 25-14 and 25-23, then hit .379 over the last three (25-21, 25-14, 15-11). LMU, which hit .382 in the first set, managed .154 over the final three.

• Nemo Beach had 36 kills on .326 hitting (4.50 per set) and averaged 5.06 points per set against LMU. She had 25 kills on .333 hitting and 27.0 points in the Sept. 27 comeback, and 11 kills on .313 hitting with two aces in the Nov. 1 sweep.

• Ava Durgan hit .515 (21-4-33) against the Lions. She came off the bench for eight kills on .429 hitting in the Sept. 27 comeback, then started on Nov. 1 and led USD with 13 kills on .579 hitting (13-2-19).

• Kylie Munday averaged 10.13 assists per set against LMU. She had 47 assists, 16 digs and four block assists in the Sept. 27 comeback, and paired 34 assists with seven kills on nine error-free swings, four aces and eight digs in the Nov. 1 sweep.

• BayLea Sparks hit .563 (10-1-16) against the Lions, with five kills and a team-high five block assists on Sept. 27 and five kills on seven error-free swings on Nov. 1.

• Lauren Lynch passed 20-for-21 with six digs and an ace on Sept. 27 and added six digs and another ace on Nov. 1. Reese Bates served a team-high three aces and passed 7-for-7 in the Sept. 27 match.

Against Pepperdine (2-0 in 2025)
• The Toreros took six of seven sets from Pepperdine, winning the Sept. 25 WCC opener 3-1 in Malibu and clinching the conference title with a sweep at the JCP on Nov. 20. They hit .278 (106-32-266) and averaged 15.14 kills and 17.86 digs per set, including 67 digs in the three-set clincher, and current Toreros had 52 of the 106 kills.

• Nemo Beach averaged 5.29 kills, 3.29 digs and 5.57 points per set against Pepperdine, with double-doubles in both matches. She had 16 kills and 12 digs in the opener, then 21 kills on .314 hitting and 11 digs in three sets in the clincher, when she passed 13-for-13.

• Both Pepperdine matches were double-doubles for Kylie Munday: 39 assists and 13 digs in the opener, and 36 assists and 14 digs in the clincher, when she served 20 times without an error. She averaged 10.71 assists and 3.86 digs per set against the Waves.

• BayLea Sparks had 4.0 blocks in each match for a team-high 8.0 against the Waves (1.14 per set). In the opener, she hit .600 with seven kills on 10 swings and added a solo block and three block assists.

• Lauren Lynch passed 21-for-21 against Pepperdine, 10-for-10 in the opener and 11-for-11 in her start in the clincher, and had 13 digs. Reese Bates served four aces in six sets, including a team-high three in two sets on Nov. 20.

NATIONALLY RELEVANT NUMBERS
• San Diego is holding opponents to .152 hitting, eighth in the nation according to NCAA statistics through Oct. 7. The Toreros were ninth through Sept. 30.

• Nationally, San Diego also ranks 58th in digs per set (15.02), 63rd in blocks per set (2.42), 74th in attacks per set (35.25) and 79th in kills per set (13.13).

• Three Toreros rank in the national top 50 in an individual category: Kylie Munday is 36th in assists per set (10.21), Meghan Scholz is 41st in blocks per set (1.34) and Lauren Lynch is 47th in digs per set (4.35).

• The attack has kept climbing: San Diego has hit .333 (245-61-553) in five matches since Sept. 17, more than double its .163 mark through the first eight.

HOW THEY STACK UP IN THE WCC
• The weekend brings together the WCC's three stingiest defenses. San Diego leads the league in opponent hitting percentage (.152), followed by LMU (.184) and Pepperdine (.186), according to NCAA statistics through Oct. 7. The Toreros rank eighth nationally in the category, and no other WCC team is higher than 77th.

• The same three teams rank 1-2-3 in the league in blocks per set: Pepperdine (2.80, 18th nationally), San Diego (2.42) and LMU (2.16). The Waves' 165.0 total blocks are the seventh-most in the country.

• San Diego is also second in the WCC in kills (13.13), assists (12.19), digs (15.02) and attacks (35.25) per set. Kylie Munday (10.21 assists per set), Meghan Scholz (1.34 blocks per set) and Lauren Lynch (4.35 digs per set) each rank second in the league, and Kierstyn Barton is fifth in points per set (4.08).

• LMU's attack runs through Maria Tabacuks, who leads the WCC in attacks per set (10.38) and ranks second to Santa Clara's Morgan Hayes in kills per set (3.88, 60th nationally) and points per set (4.51, 50th). Nicole Schuetz is fourth in kills per set (3.50), the two have combined for 428 of the Lions' 757 kills, and setter Delfina Schuh ranks fourth in assists per set (9.60).

• Pepperdine's Ella Piskorz leads the WCC and ranks 11th nationally in blocks per set (1.51), and her 89 blocks are the third-most in the country. She is also hitting .347, and teammate Irelynd Lorenzen is fifth in the league in blocks per set (1.07). The Waves rank second in the WCC in hitting (.239), and Laine Briggs is third in digs per set (4.15).

PLAYERS TO WATCH
#7 Kierstyn Barton | Senior | 6-1 | Outside Hitter | Chandler, Ariz. | Corona Del Sol HS
Through 13 Matches (2026)
• Barton leads the Toreros in kills (166, 3.46 per set) and points (196.0, 4.08 per set) through 48 sets. Her points per set rank fifth in the WCC and her kills per set rank sixth. She is hitting .222.

• She had nine kills, eight digs and two aces against Denver, both aces coming during a four-point service run that forced a Pioneers timeout at 11-5 in the first set. In the third, her kill capped a 4-0 run for a 19-17 lead, and she added kills at 20-18 and 22-20.

• Against Saint Mary's, she had a match-high 16 kills on .375 hitting with five aces, seven block assists and seven digs for 24.5 points, tying the most by a Torero in a match this season. The five aces are a Torero season high, and she served back-to-back aces to close the first set and again for a 14-10 lead in the fifth.

• Her season high is 20 kills against SMU, followed by 19 in her USD debut against Baylor and 18 against San Diego State, and she had double-doubles in all three matches leading into WCC play. She has 115 digs and 34.0 blocks and has been charged with just four reception errors on 124 serve-receive attempts (.968).

#12 Kylie Munday | Junior | 5-10 | Setter | Post Falls, Idaho | Post Falls HS
Through 13 Matches (2026)
• Munday has 480 assists through 47 sets. Her 10.21 assists per set rank 36th nationally and second in the WCC, behind Santa Clara's Macy Hinshaw (10.67), and she was named WCC Setter of the Week for Aug. 31 after the season-opening weekend in Honolulu.

• Her 55 assists against UC Davis are a season high and one shy of her career high of 56, set in the five-set win over Arizona on Sept. 13, 2025. She set a season high with 25 digs in that match and added 5.0 blocks and two aces while running an offense that produced 66 kills.

• According to Evollve/Avid Volleyball, that line made her just the second player in the past seven seasons to finish a match with at least 55 assists, 25 digs and five blocks.

• She has six double-doubles in 2026 — 39 assists and 12 digs against Baylor, 42 and 19 against Georgia Southern, 55 and 25 against UC Davis, 35 and 10 against Oregon, 38 and 10 against San Diego State, and 43 and 16 against Saint Mary's.

• She handed out 33 assists (11.00 per set) as San Diego hit .400 against Denver, and twice served three straight points: the first run began with an ace on the way to a 13-7 second-set lead, and the second turned a 17-16 third-set deficit into a 19-17 lead. Munday ranks second on the roster with 133 digs (2.83 per set) and third with 11 service aces, and has added 24.0 blocks and 16 kills.

#1 Nemo Beach | Senior | 5-11 | Outside Hitter | Chandler, Ariz. | Hamilton HS
Through 13 Matches (2026)
• Beach reached 1,000 career kills, all at San Diego, in the Sept. 6 match against USC. She ranks second on the team with 140 kills through 46 sets, and her 3.04 kills per set rank ninth in the WCC. She is hitting .217.

• Her season high is 22 kills, set against UC Davis on a season-high 61 attempts, and her 12 digs that night made it one of her three double-doubles in 2026. The other two came in sweeps, with 11 kills and 11 digs apiece at Hawaii and against Arizona.

• She had 11 kills on .400 hitting against Denver, five of them on seven error-free swings in the second set, which she closed by serving the final two points, the first an ace. She passed all 16 serves she received and ended the match with a kill at 25-23.

• Beach ranks second on the team with 158.5 points (3.45 per set) and 192 serve-receive attempts (.917), and has added 90 digs, nine aces, nine assists and 15.0 blocks. She served a season-high three aces against Arizona, two of them to cap a 6-0 start to the third set.

#13 Emma Brewer | Freshman | 6-1 | Outside Hitter | Salem, Ore. | Sprague HS
Through 13 Matches (2026)
• The WCC Freshman of the Week for Sept. 21, Brewer ranks third on the team in kills (84, 2.27 per set) through 37 sets and is tied with BayLea Sparks for third in points (99.0). She has added 61 digs and 21.0 blocks.

• She had nine kills in two sets against Pacific. In the second, she put down six kills on eight swings and ended four straight rallies — three kills and a solo block — during a 5-0 run, and her kill on the third set's first rally came on Belle Groomes' first college assist.

• Her first two career double-doubles came in back-to-back matches: a career-high 13 kills on .440 hitting with 14 digs against San Diego State, then 12 kills and 13 digs against Saint Mary's. She had three kills in a span of four rallies to put USD ahead 5-3 in the fifth set against the Gaels.

• Against Arizona on Sept. 17, she checked in with the Wildcats ahead 13-12 in the first set and had four kills in the 8-1 run that followed, finishing with 10 kills on .474 hitting off the bench.

• Brewer started the season opener against Baylor on the left side and finished with nine kills and nine digs. At Arizona State, she closed out San Diego's second-set win with a kill and a set-winning ace awarded on a successful challenge.

#8 Ryann Knuth | Freshman | 6-2 | Outside Hitter | Glenview, Ill. | Glenbrook South HS
Through 13 Matches (2026)
• Knuth leads San Diego with 14 service aces (0.39 per set) and ranks third on the team in points per set (2.74), with 98.5 points through 36 sets.

• She led all players with 13 kills and 13.5 points in the sweep of Denver, hitting .478 (13-2-23), tied for the second-best mark by a Torero with at least 12 kills this season. She hit .400 or better in every set, and three of San Diego's five scoring runs of four or more points began with a Knuth kill.

• The freshman outside hitter set a career high with 17 kills against SMU and added 13 digs in the same match. She has 78 kills and 65 digs on the season.

• Her four aces against Georgia Southern, three of them in a row as San Diego opened the fourth set on an 8-0 run, are the second-most by a Torero in a match this season. She has also served three in a match twice, against UC Davis and Pacific.

#2 Lauren Lynch | Sophomore | 5-5 | Libero | Burbank, Calif. | Sierra Canyon HS
Through 13 Matches (2026)
• The WCC Defensive Player of the Week for Oct. 5, Lynch leads the Toreros with 209 digs (4.35 per set), 47th nationally and second in the WCC behind Denver's Madison Winkler (4.84). She has taken 253 serve-receive attempts, far and away the most on the team, with 12 errors for a .953 mark.

• The libero had at least 14 digs in each of the first 11 matches, topped by a season-high 26 against SMU, and has led San Diego in digs in each of the last two, with 11 apiece against Pacific and Denver. She has added 51 assists out of the back row.

• She had 14 digs against Saint Mary's after leading all players with 18 against San Diego State. At Arizona State, she passed 24-for-24 in serve receive.

#18 BayLea Sparks | Redshirt Senior | 6-2 | Middle Blocker | Grand Junction, Colo. | Fruita Monument HS
Through 13 Matches (2026)
• Sparks leads San Diego in hitting percentage at .407, turning 145 swings into 72 kills with 13 attack errors through 47 sets. She hit .750 against Pacific with nine kills on 12 swings and no errors, including five kills on six swings in the first set.

• Her 10.0 blocks against Saint Mary's (one solo, nine assists) are the most by a Torero in a match this season, and she hit .625 with five kills and no errors against the Gaels.

• She ranks second on the team with 47.0 blocks (1.00 per set), sixth in the WCC, and leads it with seven solo blocks — three of them against San Diego State, the most solo blocks by a Torero in a match this season.

• Her 8.0 blocks against UC Davis, two of them solo, came with a season-high 14 kills on .542 hitting for 19.0 points, also a season best. She has 99.0 points in 2026, tied with Emma Brewer for third on the team.

#15 Meghan Scholz | Senior | 6-3 | Middle Blocker | Tomahawk, Wis. | Tomahawk HS
Through 13 Matches (2026)
• Scholz leads the team with 55.0 blocks through 41 sets. Her 1.34 blocks per set rank 41st nationally and second in the WCC, behind Pepperdine's Ella Piskorz (1.51), and her block total ranks fourth in the league.

• She has put up at least 5.0 blocks in six matches — Georgia Southern, Hawaii, UC Davis, Oregon, San Diego State and Saint Mary's. Her 9.0 blocks against San Diego State are her season high, and she added 7.0 blocks and six kills on .417 hitting against Saint Mary's, including a fifth-set stuff of Layne Dent with Kierstyn Barton.

• She hit .583 with eight kills and four block assists against Denver and was in on four of San Diego's five blocks in the first set, when the Pioneers hit .000. Her top offensive showing came against Georgia Southern, with 10 kills on 15 swings and no attack errors for a .667 clip, and she has 57 kills on .223 hitting this season.

#3 Ella Fulton | Freshman | 6-2 | Middle Blocker | San Carlos, Calif. | Saint Francis HS
Through 13 Matches (2026)
• Fulton has played 12 sets across six matches with one start, posting 11 kills and 5.0 blocks for 13.5 points.

• She was on the floor for the deciding set against UC Davis and had a block assist on the set's second point, and she teamed with Brewer on a fourth-set stuff of Grace Martin at Arizona State.