SAN BRUNO, Calif. — Four Toreros were named to the 2026 WCC Preseason Team and San Diego was picked to finish first in the 2026 WCC Preseason Coaches Poll, the West Coast Conference announced on Wednesday morning as part of its annual volleyball preseason honors.

Outside hitters Kierstyn Barton and Nemo Beach, setter Kylie Munday, and middle blocker BayLea Sparks comprised USD's preseason team honorees, of which it had the most in the league. San Diego was the only program with more than three selections on the 16-player squad.

Nine of the 10 first-place votes propelled the defending conference champions to the top spot in the preseason poll. They totaled 81 points, nine clear of second-place Pepperdine, which picked up the lone remaining first-place vote and 72 points. LMU followed in third with 59, and Santa Clara edged Saint Mary's for fourth, 55 points to 54. It marks the second straight year the Toreros have been tabbed the league's preseason favorite, and their third time in the last four polls.

Barton arrives on the preseason team before she has played a match at Alcalá Park. The senior from Chandler, Arizona, spent three seasons at Washington, where she earned All-Big Ten First Team and AVCA All-North Region recognition in 2025 after totaling 400 kills (3.57 per set) and 1.96 digs per set — one of only five Big Ten players that season to pair 400-plus kills with 200-plus digs. She led the Huskies in kills 16 times in 2025 and posted seven double-doubles, and she left Seattle with 895 career kills, 512 career digs, 93 career blocks, and 50 career aces in 75 matches and 277 sets. Barton opened this summer's FISU America Games with 14 kills on .414 hitting, 13 digs, four blocks, and an ace against Brazil.

The reigning WCC Player of the Year, Beach is one of just two players in the league to make the preseason team in each of the last three years. The senior from Chandler, Arizona, led the conference in 2025 with 489 kills — the ninth-highest single-season total in program history — and 551.0 points, which ranked 24th nationally at 4.52 per set. Her 4.01 kills per set were second in the WCC. She played all 122 sets that season while adding 208 digs, 41 blocks, 39 aces, and nine double-doubles, with a season high of 28 kills against Marquette on August 30. Beach also earned 2025 All-WCC First Team, AVCA All-Pacific Region Team, and AVCA All-America Honorable Mention honors, and she enters her final season with 955 career kills across three years.

Munday, the league's reigning Setter of the Year, was selected after a 2025 campaign in which she distributed 1,163 assists across 116 sets — second in the WCC, 25th nationally — with at least 26 in every appearance. The junior from Post Falls, Idaho, also recorded 280 digs, a team-high 47 aces, 66.0 total blocks, 13 double-doubles, and 67 kills on .250 hitting that season, peaking with 56 assists against Arizona on September 13. She was named to the 2025 All-WCC First Team, took AVCA All-Pacific Region Honorable Mention, and claimed four WCC Setter of the Week awards. In July, Munday was named MVP of the FISU America Games after turning in 180 assists over five matches against two total errors as San Diego, competing as Team USA, went 5-0 for gold.

A first year at USD produced the most efficient season of Sparks' career. The redshirt senior from Grand Junction, Colorado, hit .456 on 123 kills in 2025 while compiling 118 total blocks (15 solo, 103 assists) and 189.5 points across 105 sets, and she blocked at least one ball in 28 of the 29 matches she played. Her career-high 10 block assists against Saint Mary's on November 8 tied for the fourth-most in a single match in program history, and she followed with a season-best 12 kills on .550 hitting at Santa Clara on November 22 before adding eight kills on .571 in the NCAA Tournament first round. Sparks, a 2025 All-WCC Honorable Mention and a WCC Defensive Player of the Week on September 1, owns 432 career kills and 319 career blocks over three playing seasons, the first two of which came at High Point.

San Diego is coming off a 25-5 season in which it won all 18 of its WCC matches to claim the program's 13th conference championship and its 27th NCAA Tournament berth. The Toreros' 18-match win streak ended in the tournament's first round with a five-set loss to Kansas State in Lincoln.

Barton, Beach, Munday, Sparks, and the rest of the Toreros open the 2026 season on Friday, August 28 in Honolulu, Hawaii against Baylor as part of the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic. First serve against the Bears at the Stan Sheriff Center is set for 7 PM PST.

2026 WEST COAST CONFERENCE VOLLEYBALL PRESEASON COACHES POLL

Place	Team	First Place	Points
1.	San Diego	9	81
2.	Pepperdine	1	72
3.	LMU		59
4.	Santa Clara		55
5.	Saint Mary's		54
6.	Denver		44
7.	San Francisco		29
8.	Portland		28
T-9.	Pacific		14
T-9.	Seattle U		14

2026 ALL-WCC VOLLEYBALL PRESEASON TEAM

Name	Institution	Yr.	Pos.
Kierstyn Barton	San Diego	Sr.	OH
Nemo Beach	San Diego	Sr.	OH
Macy Hinshaw	Santa Clara	Jr.	S
Havannah Hoeft	Portland	Sr.	S
Antonie Kelnarova	Saint Mary's	Jr.	OH
Kylie Munday	San Diego	Jr.	S
Ella Piskorz	Pepperdine	Jr.	MB
Chloe Pravednikov	Pepperdine	Jr.	OH
Tristen Raymond	Pepperdine	So.	S
Maui Robins	Portland	Gr.	OH
Anya Santrac	LMU	So.	OH
Cate Shanahan	Santa Clara	Jr.	OH
BayLea Sparks	San Diego	Sr.	MB
Aleksandra Stojanovic	LMU	Jr.	MB
Maria Tabacuks	LMU	So.	OH
Lexi Trapani	Santa Clara	Sr.	DS