MALIBU, Calif. — San Diego volleyball silenced a raucous Firestone Fieldhouse crowd on Thursday night, rallying from two sets down for a 21-25, 19-25, 25-21, 25-17, 17-15 win over Pepperdine that was televised nationally on ESPNU.
The Toreros (15-8, 10-3 WCC) won their eighth straight match and avenged an Oct. 10 home loss to Pepperdine (20-5, 12-2 WCC), handing the Waves — who had entered the night tied with LMU atop the WCC standings — just their second conference loss of the season. The comeback came in San Diego's final visit to the Firestone Fieldhouse, with Pepperdine's new arena, The Mountain at Mullin Park, set to open next month.
A kill and two aces from freshman Emma Brewer keyed a 4-0 run that put San Diego ahead 8-5 in the opening set, and the Toreros led as late as 14-13. Pepperdine scored three straight points for an 18-15 lead and held off a late San Diego push to take the set 25-21.
San Diego fell behind 7-1 in the second set and pulled within 10-9 on a 4-0 run that included back-to-back kills from freshman Ryann Knuth. The Waves answered with five straight points and never trailed in a 25-19 win.
Down two sets and trailing 2-1 early in the third, San Diego scored eight straight points, the last seven with sophomore libero Lauren Lynch serving. Senior middle blocker Meghan Scholz had three kills and two block assists during the run, which put the Toreros ahead 9-2.
That lead was gone by 16-16, and the set was tied again at 19-19 and 20-20 before senior Kierstyn Barton broke the tie with back-to-back kills. Brewer followed with an ace, and senior Nemo Beach put away the final two points for a 25-21 win.
Redshirt senior BayLea Sparks answered Pepperdine's first point of the fourth set with four kills in a 6-0 run, five of the points coming with junior setter Kylie Munday serving. San Diego hit .406 in the set and led by as many as eight, and Brewer ended it with a kill and an ace for a 25-17 win.
The fifth set featured nine ties, and San Diego trailed 4-2 and 9-7 before a Pepperdine service error and a Munday kill evened it. Sparks, who had four kills in the set, put the Toreros ahead 11-10 and later erased Pepperdine's last lead with a kill that tied it 13-13.
Brewer's kill gave San Diego its first match point at 14-13, and Pepperdine fought off two before the Toreros closed it out. Barton's kill made it 15-14 after a successful San Diego challenge, an unsuccessful Pepperdine challenge kept the Toreros ahead 16-15, and Scholz and Munday teamed up on a block for the final point.
Barton finished with a match-high 24 kills and 16 digs, and Sparks added 11 kills on .500 hitting. Brewer totaled nine kills, 10 digs and five aces, Beach had six kills and three aces, and Scholz added five kills and five block assists. Munday notched her ninth double-double of the season, handing out 42 assists to go with 18 digs, and Lynch led all players with 23 digs.
After hitting .095 and .026 in the first two sets, San Diego hit .223 over the final three and held Pepperdine to .096. The Toreros finished with a 62-38 edge in kills and a season-high 11 aces.
It was San Diego's first win this season after dropping the first two sets and its first five-set victory in conference play since Nov. 15, 2025, at Portland, following five-set losses to Saint Mary's and LMU. The Toreros improved to 7-1 on the road this season and have won their last three matches in Malibu.
UP NEXT
San Diego closes its three-match road trip at LMU on Saturday, Nov. 14. First serve at Gersten Pavilion is set for 1 p.m., and the match will stream on ESPN+.
