PRIYA COOPER / SPORTS EDITOR

Late July of this past summer the USD women’s volleyball team competed in the 2025 World University Games. The games took place in Germany in the Rhine-Ruhr region and Berlin. Student-athletes from over 150 countries competed for medals in a total of 18 different sports at the World University Games, one of the largest multi-sport events in the world. The Toreros represented the United States as the nation’s sole women’s volleyball team in the games this year. 

USD volleyball celebrated a win on the court at the Games. Photo courtesy of  @usdvolleyball/Instagram

USD started the games off in competition with Team Italy and while the Toreros were able to keep pace they were unable to secure a victory, but came back triumphantly in their second match against Australia. The team secured their first win against Australia with impressive performances from USD first-year Kennedy Osunsanmi and USD sophomore Nemo Beach. 

Following the win against Australia, the United States jumped ahead of Chinese Taipei early on but were once again unable to come out with the win. Each set was tied with its opponent near the midpoint and ended with the Toreros ultimately falling behind. 

The Toreros energy shifted for the next matchup against Team Chile. San Diego volleyball pulled away with a 3-1 win while representing the United States. Beach had six digs and a block while USD middle and Minnesota graduate transfer Kali Engeman set forth her strongest performance since joining the Toreros this past spring, totaling 12 kills of her own and four blocks. 

USD graduate student Kali Enegaman spoke about how it felt to be able to represent the United States and compete on such a large stage. 

“It  was  truly such  an honor to compete at the highest stage and get to  represent our country,” Engeman said. “It was amazing to get to compete with the  best athletes  from  around the world and show what an amazing team we have here at USD.”

Engeman also detailed how competing against different countries was different from a typical season competing against other colleges in the Western region. 

“Competing on the international stage was a completely new experience,” Engeman said. “The facilities were top notch and we even had to adapt to playing with a different ball. Additionally, each team had a new style of play that they brought from their country that we had to learn to defend and find new weaknesses in their strategy.”

After their victory over Team Chile, the Toreros went on to play Team Mongolia where they prevailed in three straight sets. This gave the Toreros a second consecutive win while representing the United States at the 2025 World University Games. The win over Mongolia solidified San Diego’s place in the next set of matches. 

Team USA then competed against Team Spain in the next round and ended up falling behind in a 3-2 defeat to Spain. The Toreros started strong against Spain, winning the first two sets and looking in control of the match. But Spain responded with a dominant third set and pulled away again in the fourth, forcing a decisive fifth set. The Toreros had chances to close it out, even reaching match point with a 14-13 lead in the final frame. But Spain was persistent and tied the score twice before finishing with back-to-back points to secure a 3-2 comeback victory.

USD’s run at the World University Games ended with a 10th-place finish in the women’s volleyball field out of 16 total competing teams, closing the tournament with a 3-3 record. Representing Team USA, the Toreros earned victories over Australia, Chile and Mongolia, while dropping matches to Italy, Chinese Taipei and Spain.

Engeman shared her feelings about the experience as a whole after having the opportunity to play overseas. 

“It was overall a great experience for our team to learn how to adapt on the fly and compete with whoever is across the net from us,” Engeman said.

USD senior Olivia Bennett also commented on the overall experience   and  how  it  prepared the Toreros for the upcoming season. “Our trip to Berlin was such a great opportunity to connect as a team culturally and on the court,” Bennett said. “Playing against different styles of play tested our resilience and brought this team closer and more unified. I feel  so proud to have represented USD and USA with this group of people and can’t wait to see how our journey benefits us this fall.”

USD volleyball is set to begin its 2025 season back on the West Coast on Friday, Aug. 29 at the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic.

Toreros played on courts in Germany, wearing team USA shirts. Photo courtesy of @usdvolleyball/Instagram