SAN DIEGO — San Diego went point for point with No. 8 SMU for two and a half hours Friday night, holding a set clincher in the opener and taking the second frame before the Mustangs closed out a 3-1 (26-28, 25-22, 19-25, 21-25) win before 1,380 fans at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
The Toreros (2-2, 0-0 WCC) out-killed one of the country's top-10 teams 60-52 and put three hitters in double figures.
Kierstyn Barton led everyone on the floor with 20 kills, adding 14 digs and five block assists for a team-high 22.5 points.
Ryann Knuth matched her with a double-double of her own at 17 kills and 13 digs, and
Nemo Beach chipped in 14 kills and nine digs.
There were 34 tied scores and 12 lead changes across the match, 13 of those ties in the first set alone. San Diego ripped off five straight points to lead 10-5 there, then answered every SMU push down the stretch, taking a 25-24 lead and a set point before the Mustangs (4-1, 0-0 ACC)Â won four of the final five points.
The second set belonged to the Toreros. Trailing 8-7, San Diego scored four in a row to go up 11-8, hit .239 on 17 kills against just six errors and never let SMU back even, closing it out 25-22 to square the match.
San Diego jumped out again in the third, leading 7-2 before SMU found its footing, and opened the fourth on a 3-0 run. The Toreros were still even at 15 in the fourth and finished the set hitting .250, their best of the night.
Behind them,
Lauren Lynch anchored the back row with 26 digs while handling 38 of 39 serve receptions, and the Toreros passed at a .966 clip as a team.
Kylie Munday ran the offense with 51 assists (tied for the third-most in a single game of her college career thus far)Â and added eight digs,
BayLea Sparks put up six block assists, and
Ella Fulton hit .333 with five kills in three sets of work.
UP NEXT
The Toreros will wrap up the 2026 Jack Talmadge Volleyball Classic on Sunday afternoon with a matchup against No. 15 USC. First serve opposite the Trojans at the Jenny Craig Pavilion is set for 2:00 p.m.
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