SAN DIEGO — The Toreros' West Coast Conference title defense begins at home this week, as San Diego volleyball (5-5, 0-0 WCC) hosts Saint Mary's (5-7, 0-0 WCC) and Pacific (4-8, 0-0 WCC) at the Jenny Craig Pavilion on Thursday and Saturday. San Diego went 18-0 in league play last season, has won 20 straight WCC matches and closed its non-conference schedule last week with wins over Arizona and San Diego State.

USD opens league play against the Gaels on Thursday, Sept. 24, at 7 p.m., then welcomes the Tigers to the JCP for a noon match on Saturday, Sept. 26.

Both matches will be streamed live on ESPN+, with Torero broadcaster Braden Surprenant on the play-by-play call.

Live statistics for both matches will be available on StatBroadcast.

LAST TIME OUT: TOREROS SWEEP ARIZONA, BEAT SDSU AT THE JENNY CRAIG PAVILION

• San Diego opened its final nonconference week with a 25-19, 25-15, 25-11 sweep of Arizona on Thursday, Sept. 17, its first win of the season over a power-conference opponent and its fifth straight over the Wildcats. The Toreros hit a season-high .457 (49-7-92) with a season-low seven attack errors and held Arizona to .091.

• Chandler, Arizona, natives Kierstyn Barton and Nemo Beach each posted a double-double against their home-state school — Barton with a match-high 13 kills on .478 hitting and 11 digs, Beach with 11 kills, 11 digs and three aces. Freshman Emma Brewer added 10 kills on .474 hitting off the bench.
 

• Two nights later, Brewer made her first start since the season opener and posted her first career double-double — a career-high 13 kills on .440 hitting and 14 digs — as San Diego beat crosstown rival San Diego State 25-20, 22-25, 25-16, 25-15 in front of 1,072 to finish nonconference play at 5-5.
 

• The Toreros hit .280, held SDSU to .075 and out-killed the Aztecs 50-40. They tied their season high with 15.0 team blocks and out-blocked SDSU 15.0-3.0 — Meghan Scholz had 9.0, the most by a Torero in a match this season, and BayLea Sparks added 5.0, three of them solo.
 

• Brewer served four straight points for an 8-2 first-set lead, and another Brewer service run turned a 5-3 second-set deficit into a 7-5 lead before SDSU closed that set on a 10-3 run. Barton served San Diego to a 5-0 start in the third, a set in which SDSU hit .000, and the Toreros went ahead for good at 5-4 in the fourth during a three-point run on Scholz's serve that included solo blocks by Beach and Sparks.
 

• Barton hit .417 with a match-high 18 kills and added 11 digs for her third straight double-double, and Kylie Munday made it three Torero double-doubles on the night with 38 assists and 10 digs. Lauren Lynch led all players with 18 digs, giving her at least 14 in all 10 matches this season.

ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST SAINT MARY'S

• The Toreros lead the all-time series, 64-14, and are 33-6 against the Gaels all-time at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
 

• USD has won each of its last 14 matchups with SMC dating back to 2019, a streak that has included 10 San Diego sweeps.
 

• San Diego and Saint Mary's most recently faced off last season on Nov. 8, 2025, with the Toreros winning a hard-fought five-set battle by scores of 22-25, 25-20, 19-25, 27-25 and 15-5 at the JCP. Libero Lauren Lynch recorded what was then a career-high 16 digs that afternoon, middle blocker BayLea Sparks added a career-high 10 block assists, and setter Kylie Munday steered the USD offense by compiling 51 assists, 12 digs, four blocks, three service aces and a pair of kills. Her 51 assists that day remain tied for the third most she's ever achieved in a single match thus far.
 

• The Toreros' last loss to SMC at the JCP was on Sept. 20, 2018, when it fell to the Gaels in five sets, and USD's most recent overall defeat at the hands of the Gaels was later that season, on Nov. 17, 2018 (a 3-0 SMC sweep in Moraga).
 

• The Toreros lead the all-time series, 25-1.
 

• USD's lone loss to the Tigers came back on Nov. 20, 2021, when it dropped a 3-1 decision at the Alex G. Spanos Center.
 

• Since then, San Diego has won eight straight matches against UOP, including six sweeps.
 

• The Toreros prevailed in straight sets last time they hosted the Tigers, winning 3-0 on Nov. 25, 2025.

EMMA BREWER NAMED WCC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK

• USD first-year outside hitter Emma Brewer has been named the WCC Freshman of the Week for Sept. 21, 2026, the West Coast Conference announced on Monday afternoon.
 

• Brewer shined in both of San Diego's wins over the weekend, totaling 23 kills (3.29 K/S), 16 digs, seven blocks, two service aces and an assist as the Toreros defeated both Arizona and San Diego State at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
 

• She had 10 kills (3.33 K/S), an assist, two digs and two blocks in a Sept. 17 sweep of the Wildcats, then erupted for a double-double with 13 kills (3.25 K/S), a remarkable 14 digs (3.50 D/S), five block assists and two service aces in a 3-1 victory over the Aztecs on Sept. 19.
 

• Brewer is the second Torero to earn a WCC weekly honor this season, joining junior Kylie Munday, who was named the conference's Setter of the Week on Aug. 31. She is the first Torero to be named Freshman of the Week since Ava Durgan, who was recognized three times last season, most recently on Nov. 3, 2025.

BY THE NUMBERS

• San Diego is holding opponents to .156 hitting, the best mark in the WCC and 18th in the nation, according to NCAA statistics through Sept. 21.
 

• The Toreros are second in the WCC in both digs per set (15.81, 20th nationally) and blocks per set (2.32). Lauren Lynch ranks second in the league and 23rd in the country with 4.68 digs per set, and Meghan Scholz is second in the WCC and 42nd nationally with 1.37 blocks per set.
 

• San Diego leads the WCC in both attacks per set (36.84, 18th nationally) and assists per set (12.24), and Kylie Munday ranks second in the league and 32nd in the country with 10.22 assists per set.
 

• The attack caught up last week: USD hit .353 (99-20-224) in its wins over Arizona and San Diego State, more than double its .163 mark through the first eight matches.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

• Barton leads the Toreros in kills (131, 3.54 per set) and points (148.0, 4.00 per set) through 37 sets. She has three straight double-doubles, most recently a match-high 18 kills on .417 hitting and 11 digs against San Diego State, after 13 kills and 11 digs against Arizona and 15 and 10 against Oregon.
 

• Her season high is 20 kills against SMU, followed by 19 in her USD debut against Baylor. She has 94 digs on the season, topped by 20 against UC Davis, and 26.0 blocks.
 

• Barton has been charged with just four reception errors on 82 serve-receive attempts (.951) and has four service aces.

#12 Kylie Munday | Junior | 5-10 | Setter | Post Falls, Idaho | Post Falls HS

• Munday has 378 assists through 37 sets, an average of 10.22 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 five 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, and 38 and 10 against San Diego State.
 

• Munday ranks second on the roster with 112 digs (3.03 per set), is tied for second with eight service aces and has added 19.0 blocks and 12 kills.

#1 Nemo Beach | Senior | 5-11 | Outside Hitter | Chandler, Ariz. | Hamilton HS

• Beach reached 1,000 career kills, all at San Diego, in the Sept. 6 match against USC. She has 115 kills through 37 sets this season (3.11 per set) on .212 hitting, second on the team in both.
 

• 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.
 

• Beach served a season-high three aces against Arizona, two of them to cap a 6-0 start to the third set. Her 4.0 blocks against Oregon, including both of San Diego's solo blocks, are also a season high.
 

• Beach ranks second on the team with 130.0 points (3.51 per set) and 144 serve-receive attempts (.896), and is tied for second with eight service aces. She has added 76 digs, eight assists and 11.0 blocks.

#13 Emma Brewer | Freshman | 6-1 | Outside Hitter | Salem, Ore. | Sprague HS

• The WCC Freshman of the Week for Sept. 21, Brewer ranks third on the team in both kills (63, 2.10 per set) and hitting percentage (.211) through 30 sets, and has added 45 digs and 13.0 blocks.
 

• In her first start since the season opener, she posted her first career double-double against San Diego State with a career-high 13 kills on .440 hitting and 14 digs, adding two aces and five block assists.
 

• Two nights earlier, she checked in against Arizona 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. Across the two wins, she hit .455 with 23 kills and three errors on 44 swings.
 

• 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

• Knuth leads San Diego with 11 service aces (0.37 per set) and ranks third on the team with 75.5 points through 30 sets.
 

• The freshman outside hitter set a career high with 17 kills against SMU and added 13 digs in the same match. She has 59 kills and 53 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

• Lynch leads the Toreros with 173 digs (4.68 per set) and has taken 225 serve-receive attempts, far and away the most on the team, with 10 errors for a .956 mark.
 

• The libero has reached at least 14 digs in all 10 matches, topped by a season-high 26 against SMU, and has added 42 assists out of the back row.
 

• She led all players with 18 digs against San Diego State and had a match-high 15 against Arizona, when she served four straight points after a 13-13 tie in the first set. 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

• Sparks leads San Diego in hitting percentage at .359, turning 117 swings into 54 kills with 12 attack errors through 36 sets.
 

• She ranks second on the team with 34.0 blocks (0.94 per set) and leads it with five 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 73.5 points in 2026, fourth on the team.

#15 Meghan Scholz | Senior | 6-3 | Middle Blocker | Tomahawk, Wis. | Tomahawk HS

• Scholz leads the team with 41.0 blocks (1.37 per set) through 30 sets and has 39 kills on the season. She has put up at least 5.0 blocks in five matches — Georgia Southern, Hawaii, UC Davis, Oregon and San Diego State.
 

• Her 9.0 blocks against SDSU, one solo and eight assists, are the most by a Torero in a match this season and topped her previous high of 6.0 against Oregon. She added five kills in the match.
 

• Her top offensive showing came against Georgia Southern, with 10 kills on 15 swings and no attack errors for a .667 clip.

#3 Ella Fulton | Freshman | 6-2 | Middle Blocker | San Carlos, Calif. | Saint Francis HS

• 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.