kylie munday vs. smu sept 2026 - credit thomas christensen
Thomas Christensen

Wildcats, Aztecs Ahead for Toreros in Final Non-Conference Homestand

San Diego will host Arizona on Thursday evening before welcoming crosstown rival SDSU to Jenny Craig Pavilion on Saturday night

SAN DIEGO — After a challenging start to its 2026 schedule that has included five ranked opponents and just two home matches, San Diego volleyball (3-5, 0-0 WCC) returns to the Jenny Craig Pavilion this week for its final non-conference homestand. The Toreros host Arizona (3-5, 0-0 Big 12) and crosstown rival San Diego State (5-3, 0-0 Pac-12) on Thursday and Saturday.

The Toreros open the weekend against the Wildcats on Thursday, Sept. 17, at 7 p.m., then welcome the Aztecs to the JCP for a 7 p.m. battle on Saturday, Sept. 19.

Both matches will be streamed live on ESPN+, with Sam Levitt on the play-by-play call Thursday and Braden Surprenant on Saturday.

Live statistics for both matches will be available on StatBroadcast.
 
LAST TIME OUT: TOREROS BEAT UC DAVIS, FALL TO TWO RANKED OPPONENTS IN TEMPE
  • San Diego went 1-2 at Arizona State's Snyder-Park Classic in Tempe, beating UC Davis in five sets and taking a set apiece from ranked Arizona State and Oregon in four-set losses.
  • The Toreros outlasted UC Davis 3-2 (24-26, 25-21, 22-25, 25-23, 15-11) on Sept. 11, winning the fourth set after trailing 3-8. UC Davis did not record a kill in the deciding set, and Ryann Knuth and BayLea Sparks blocked Isabella Umpierre to end the match.
  • Nemo Beach had a season-high 22 kills with 12 digs, and Sparks hit .542 with 14 kills and 8.0 blocks, the most by a Torero in a match this season. Kylie Munday's 55 assists, 25 digs and 5.0 blocks made her just the second player in the past seven seasons to reach those marks in a match, according to Evollve/Avid Volleyball.
  • Against then-No. 7 Arizona State on Sept. 12, San Diego won the second set 25-23 before falling 3-1 (15-25, 25-23, 11-25, 14-25) in front of 3,552.
  • Trailing 14-17 in that set, the Toreros scored six straight — five on Lauren Lynch's serve, including two Lynch aces — to lead 20-17, and Emma Brewer ended it with a kill and a set-winning ace awarded on a successful challenge.
  • Beach led San Diego with 11 kills and Brewer had eight kills and five digs off the bench. Lynch posted 17 digs, two aces and a 24-for-24 night in serve receive, and Reese Bates also served two aces.
  • San Diego took the first set from then-No. 24 Oregon 25-16 on Sept. 13, scoring five straight to lead 13-3, hitting .320 and holding the Ducks to .056, before Oregon won the next three (19-25, 25-27, 17-25).
  • A 12-20 deficit in the third set became a 20-20 tie when the Toreros scored eight straight, seven of them with Munday serving and the last on her ace. San Diego later reached set point at 25-24, but Oregon won the final three points.
  • Kierstyn Barton had 15 kills and 10 digs for a double-double, and Munday added her fourth double-double of the season with 35 assists and 10 digs. Meghan Scholz posted a season-high 6.0 blocks with eight kills on .316 hitting.
  • Beach finished with 11 kills, nine digs and 4.0 blocks, including both of San Diego's solo blocks, and Sparks hit .400 with five kills. Lynch had a match-high 17 digs, matching her total from the day before.
ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST ARIZONA
  • The Toreros are 4-7 against the Wildcats all-time but have won each of their last four matchups against them.
  • San Diego earned a thrilling 3-2 (31-29, 25-19, 20-25, 20-25, 16-14) win over Arizona in the most recent meeting between the two teams, which took place Sept. 13, 2025, at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle as part of Washington's Husky Invitational.
  • San Diego's four-match win streak against Arizona dates back to September 2004, when unranked USD swept then-No. 17 Arizona at the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic in Honolulu. The Toreros won again when the two teams met later that season at the Jenny Craig Pavilion, earning a 3-2 win in the 2004 NCAA Tournament to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time ever.
  • USD and Arizona have met just twice since then — a 3-0 San Diego sweep in December 2013 that also came during the NCAA Tournament at the JCP and also advanced the Toreros to the Sweet 16 (this time their third trip to that round), and last year's five-set San Diego win in the Pacific Northwest.
ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST SDSU
  • The Toreros are 35-24 against the Aztecs all-time and have won each of their last four matchups against SDSU dating back to 2019.
  • San Diego last hosted SDSU at the Jenny Craig Pavilion on Sept. 17, 2022, when the Toreros earned a 3-1 win.
  • USD has won each of its last eight home matches against SDSU dating back to Sept. 18, 2007, and has not lost to the Aztecs at the JCP since Nov. 4, 2003, when it fell in five sets.
  • The Toreros' most recent overall defeat to the Aztecs was back in 2018, a 3-0 SDSU sweep at Peterson Gym.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
No. 7 Kierstyn Barton | Senior | 6-1 | Outside Hitter | Chandler, Ariz. | Corona Del Sol HS
Through Eight Matches (2026)
  • Barton leads the Toreros in kills (100, 3.33 per set) and points (114.0, 3.80 per set) through 30 sets. Her 15th kill against Oregon was her 100th of the season, and she added 10 digs in that match for a double-double.
  • Her season high is 20 kills against SMU, followed by 19 in her USD debut against Baylor. She has 72 digs on the season, topped by 20 against UC Davis, and 22.0 blocks.
  • Barton has been charged with four reception errors on 74 serve-receive attempts (.946) and has three service aces.
No. 12 Kylie Munday | Junior | 5-10 | Setter | Post Falls, Idaho | Post Falls HS
Through Eight Matches (2026)
  • Munday has 303 assists through 30 sets, an average of 10.10 per set, and 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 four double-doubles in 2026 — 39 assists and 12 digs against Baylor, 42 and 19 against Georgia Southern, 55 and 25 against UC Davis, and 35 and 10 against Oregon.
  • Munday ranks second on the roster with 94 digs (3.13 per set) and seven service aces, and has added 16.0 blocks and seven kills.
#1 Nemo Beach | Senior | 5-11 | Outside Hitter | Chandler, Ariz. | Hamilton HS
Through Eight Matches (2026)
  • Beach reached 1,000 career kills, all at San Diego, in the Sept. 6 match against USC. She has 94 kills through 30 sets this season (3.13 per set) on .206 hitting, second on the team in kills and hitting percentage.
  • Her season high is 22 kills, set against UC Davis on a season-high 61 attempts, and her 12 digs that night gave her a second double-double in 2026 after 11 kills and 11 digs in the sweep at Hawaii. She also has 14 kills against SMU, 13 against Georgia Southern and 11 each at Arizona State and against Oregon.
  • Beach ranks second on the team with 104.5 points (3.48 per set) and third with 112 serve-receive attempts (.884), adding 60 digs, seven assists, five aces and 9.0 blocks. Her 4.0 blocks against Oregon, including both of San Diego's solo blocks, are a season high.
#8 Ryann Knuth | Freshman | 6-2 | Outside Hitter | Glenview, Ill. | Glenbrook South HS
Through Eight Matches (2026)
  • Knuth leads San Diego with 11 service aces (0.39 per set) and ranks third on the team with 74.5 points through 28 sets.
  • The freshman outside hitter set a career high with 17 kills against SMU and added 13 digs in the same match. She has 58 kills and 50 digs on the season.
  • Her four aces against Georgia Southern are the most by a Torero in a match this season, three of them in a row as San Diego opened the fourth set on an 8-0 run. She served three more against UC Davis.
#2 Lauren Lynch | Sophomore | 5-5 | Libero | Burbank, Calif. | Sierra Canyon HS
Through Eight Matches (2026)
  • Lynch leads the Toreros with 140 digs (4.67 per set) and has taken 206 serve-receive attempts, far and away the most on the team, with nine errors for a .956 mark.
  • The libero has reached at least 14 digs in all eight matches, topped by a season-high 26 against SMU, and has added 32 assists out of the back row.
  • She dug 17 balls against both Arizona State and Oregon. At ASU, she passed 24-for-24 in serve receive and served two aces during a six-point run that helped San Diego take the second set.
#18 BayLea Sparks | Redshirt Senior | 6-2 | Middle Blocker | Grand Junction, Colo. | Fruita Monument HS
Through Eight Matches (2026)
  • Sparks leads San Diego in hitting percentage at .340, turning 103 swings into 46 kills with 11 attack errors through 29 sets.
  • She put up 8.0 blocks against UC Davis, two of them solo and the highest single-match total by a Torero this season, and ranks second on the team with 27.0 blocks (0.93 per set).
  • Her season-high 14 kills on .542 hitting against UC Davis produced 19.0 points, also a season best. She has 60.5 points in 2026, fourth on the team, and hit .400 with five kills against Oregon.
#15 Meghan Scholz | Senior | 6-3 | Middle Blocker | Tomahawk, Wis. | Tomahawk HS
Through Eight Matches (2026)
  • Scholz leads the team with 28.0 blocks (1.22 per set) through 23 sets and has 29 kills on the season.
  • She set a season high with 6.0 blocks against Oregon, adding eight kills on .316 hitting, and has put up at least 5.0 blocks in four matches — Georgia Southern, Hawaii, UC Davis and Oregon.
  • Her top offensive showing came against Georgia Southern, with 10 kills on 15 swings and no attack errors for a .667 clip.
#13 Emma Brewer | Freshman | 6-1 | Outside Hitter | Salem, Ore. | Sprague HS
Through Eight Matches (2026)
  • Brewer has 40 kills in 23 sets (1.74 per set), plus 29 digs, and ranks fourth on the team with 85 serve-receive attempts.
  • She started on the left side against Baylor and finished with nine kills and nine digs, and has come off the bench in each of the seven matches since. At Arizona State, she had eight kills and five digs and closed out the second set with a kill and an ace.
#3 Ella Fulton | Freshman | 6-2 | Middle Blocker | San Carlos, Calif. | Saint Francis HS
Through Eight Matches (2026)
  • Fulton has played 11 sets across five matches with one start, posting 10 kills and 5.0 blocks for 12.5 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.
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