TEMPE, Ariz. — Kylie Munday handed out 55 assists, dug 25 balls and got a hand on five blocks,
Nemo Beach put away 22 kills, and San Diego won the last two sets Friday afternoon to beat UC Davis 3-2 (24-26, 25-21, 22-25, 25-23, 15-11) in its Snyder-Park Classic opener at Desert Financial Arena.
Munday is just the second player in the past seven seasons to finish a match with at least 55 assists, 25 digs and five blocks, according to Evollve/Avid Volleyball. The junior setter also came up an assist short of her own career high of 56, set Sept. 13, 2025 against Arizona, and added two aces while running an offense that produced 66 kills.
Beach supplied 22 of those kills, more than anyone else on the floor, taking a match-high 61 swings and hitting .246. She added 12 digs for a double-double, three block assists and an ace to finish with 24.5 points. Her kill off a Munday set ended the fourth, and with the Toreros down 6-4 in the fifth she killed three consecutive rallies to put them ahead 7-6.
San Diego (3-3, 0-0 WCC) had the opening set in hand early, running off six straight points to lead 12-4. But UC Davis (3-4, 0-0 Mountain West) climbed back with a 4-0 spurt, tied it at 17-17 on four more in a row and moved ahead 20-18 before taking the set 26-24.
USD answered by leading the second set from the first point to the last without a tie.
BayLea Sparks opened with three straight kills and
Emma Brewer scored two of the final four points as the Toreros closed it 25-21, hitting .275 for their best set of the afternoon.
A 20-16 lead in the third disappeared the same way the first one had. UC Davis scored six in a row, five of them with Ally Chandler serving, to move ahead 22-20.
Kierstyn Barton and
Ryann Knuth answered with back-to-back kills to square it at 22, but the Aggies got the last three points and a 2-1 lead in the match.
The fourth set is where San Diego stopped giving ground. Trailing 8-3 and a set from the loss, the Toreros outscored UC Davis 22-15 from there, drew even at 11-11, took the lead a point later and never gave it back. Beach ended it at 25-23.
UC Davis did not record a kill in the fifth. All 11 of its points came on San Diego mistakes or blocks, and five of them arrived in a row early, each on a Torero attack error, to turn a 3-0 hole into a 5-3 lead. San Diego trailed 9-7 before reeling off five straight to lead 12-9 and took eight of the final 10 points. Sparks went 5-for-5 in the set and combined with Knuth on the block that ended the match.
The Toreros out-hit UC Davis .164 to .115 and out-killed the Aggies 66-51, with 85 digs to 79. UC Davis had the better night at the net, holding a 19.0-15.0 edge in team blocks. Each side served eight aces in a match that produced 28 ties and 15 lead changes.
Sparks finished with 14 kills on 24 attempts and one error for a team-best .542, adding eight total blocks (two solo, six assists). Barton had 13 kills and 20 digs for a double-double, Brewer eight kills in four sets and Knuth six kills with three aces and 29 serve receptions.
Lauren Lynch handled 38 receptions and led San Diego with 16 digs, and
Meghan Scholz had five block assists in three sets.
UP NEXT
The Toreros will face tournament host No. 7 Arizona State on Saturday at 5 p.m. PST at Desert Financial Arena, with the match streaming on ESPN+, then close the weekend against No. 24 Oregon on Sunday at 2 p.m.
