Twenty-one kills from Nemo Beach helps Toreros earn 15th straight win before season-high crowd of 1,103 at the JCP
The party officially started once Nemo Beach’s 21st kill of the evening found the Taraflex on match point, but the Jenny Craig Pavilion had been electric long before that. A season-high crowd of 1,103. Students packed in bleachers from baseline to baseline, hanging on every serve, pass, and kill.
Athletes from nearly every USD team chanting, stomping, and cheering as they created a hostile environment for conference rival Pepperdine.
All while San Diego volleyball did what it does best.
Win.
“They have the most heart, the most determination, they’re resilient, they wanted this,” head coach Jennifer Petrie said of her team after the match, which saw it sweep the Waves to clinch the 2025 West Coast Conference Championship. “And they’re undefeated (in league play), and that’s something really, really special.”
The Torero faithful didn’t have to wait long to get on their feet. USD (22-4, 15-0 WCC) led for nearly the entirety of Thursday night’s game, trading the lead with Pepperdine (18-8, 12-3 WCC) just four times — and only once in each of the final two frames — before prevailing by a dominant 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-23) margin. Beach hit .314 as she achieved a double-double by tallying 11 digs. Setter Kylie Munday notched a double-double with 36 assists and 14 digs of her own. And senior setter Olivia Bennett, San Diego’s lone returning starter that saw action during the program’s run to the 2022 NCAA National Semifinal, racked up a remarkable 29 digs.
“I’m just so grateful to be at a university with so much support from the community,” Bennett said after helping her teammates hoist the WCC trophy. “This crowd just helped us fuel our emotions and thrive on the court today.”
Thursday’s victory marks USD’s first WCC title since 2022. And after coming up on the wrong side of the selection bubble last year, the Toreros will watch next Sunday’s selection show wondering when, not if their name will be called.
“We’re gonna sit and watch that selection show, and you’re gonna know that your name’s gonna be up on the board,” Petrie told her team as confetti fell in a water-soaked San Diego locker room. “This has been a tremendous run. To be undefeated…to win it at home, against the second-place team…this was a dream.”
All told, it was a night to remember in a season filled full of them for USD. Addressing the crowd after her team’s 15th consecutive win, Petrie credited the fans in the JCP for helping the Toreros’ emerge with the victory.
“Knowing you guys were here supporting us means the world,” she said. “You guys got us there…we can’t appreciate you enough.”
Read more about the Toreros victory here.
— USD News Center
