SAN DIEGO - The University of San Diego volleyball team made history last week, sweeping conference No. 2 Pepperdine on Thursday night to clinch the West Coast Conference championship and with it, an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Because the WCC does not host its own postseason tournament, the regular-season conference title is the Toreros’ ticket to the national stage. USD didn’t just punch that ticket. They did it with style, extending their win streak to 15 with the 3–0 victory over the Waves, then following up the win with their 16th consecutive against Santa Clara on Saturday.

Before a spirited home crowd of 1,103 inside Jenny Craig Pavilion, the Toreros (now 23–4 overall, 16–0 WCC) controlled the match from the start, winning 25–19, 25–18, 25–23.

The only hiccup (and it was slight) came late in the third set. After building a 13–6 lead, USD allowed Pepperdine to close the gap with a pair of 4–0 runs, cutting the deficit to 21–20. But the Toreros’ composure held firm with Kennedy Osunsanmi and Nemo Beach delivering the final kills to seal the set, the sweep, and the championship.

Beach led all players with 21 kills, while Isabel Clark added 15 and setter Kylie Munday orchestrated the offense with 36 assists and 14 digs.

Watch match point and more. Credit: USD Athletics

For head coach Jennifer Petrie, the championship was the culmination of her team’s focus and discipline. “We really talked a lot about just staying present and in the moment, and resetting every point and not thinking ahead and not thinking behind,” Petrie said after the match. “It was process over the outcome. Let’s not worry about what the outcome is going to be. Let’s just worry about what we need to do with the task at hand.”

She also credited the energy from the USD student section for lifting her team.

Setter Kylie Munday echoed her coach’s emphasis on focus and connection. “I think we just focused on one game at a time. We didn’t want to look too far ahead,” Munday said. “We were really focused on coming in every day at practice and working on what we needed to fix for that week and fine tuning what we needed to, and we’ve come a really long way and I am just really proud of us.”

She added that the team’s mental approach and their off-court friendships have been key. “We talk about breath work a lot … which is how we play at our best level,” she said. “Also, we are all best friends off the court which relates to on the court, so it keeps us united.”

Petrie made it clear that her team isn’t easing up.

“We have to stay undefeated,” she said. “I mean, we’re not stopping now. This is something that is going to be really important for us, to just maintain this, and make it something special.”

On Saturday, the Toreros’ 16th straight win against Santa Clara proved that message is resonating. USD will close out conference play aiming for a perfect WCC record and with momentum few teams in the nation can match heading into the NCAA Tournament.

The team is currently ranked 29th of 348 teams in the RPI, and 32nd (or seventh among teams receiving votes beyond the Top 25) in the American Volleyball Coaches Association. An updated poll comes out tomorrow morning.

The Toreros close out the season at home, with games on Tuesday against Pacific and Saturday against Gonzaga. Be sure to watch them compete as they attempt to make history by going undefeated in conference play.

Tue Nov 25 | 6 PM | vs Pacific | Tickets | Jenny Craig Pavilion | ESPN+

Sat Nov 29 | 12 PM | vs Gonzaga | Tickets | Jenny Craig Pavilion | ESPN+

Four of the 31 Division 1 conferences do not host a post-season conference tournament. They include the West Coast Conference (USD’s conference), the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten, and Big Twelve.

As of this writing, only one team, Nebraska, remains undefeated for the entire season at 28-0. Five others — Kentucky (SEC), Utah State (Mountain West), University of Northern Iowa (Missouri Valley), Dayton (Atlantic Ten), and University of San Diego (West Coast Conference) — finished or are currently undefeated in regular-season conference play. Dayton, however, recently dropped a match in its A-10 tournament.

That puts USD among fewer than two percent of the 348 universities fielding Division I volleyball teams to go unbeaten in conference play this season.

Yup, they’re a big deal.

What are you waiting for? Grab your tickets today! Here are those links again.

Tue Nov 25 | 6 PM | vs Pacific | Tickets | Jenny Craig Pavilion | ESPN+

Sat Nov 29 | 12 PM | vs Gonzaga | Tickets | Jenny Craig Pavilion | ESPN+

Editor’s Note. Thank you to Britney Hall for covering Thursday’s game and conducting interviews with Coach Petrie and setter Kylie Munday.