University of San Diego became the first team in the nation to clinch a berth in the NCAA Division I women’s volleyball tournament Thursday night, and the Toreros can clinch the West Coast Conference title outright as soon as Saturday.

The Toreros women will be seeking a 16th straight win Saturday afternoon at Santa Clara after defeating Pepperdine 3-0 at Jenny Craig Pavilion Thursday night to clinch at least a tie for the WCC title and, through the tiebreaker, the conference’s automatic NCAA berth.

“We’re undefeated in conference play, and that’s something that is really special,” coach Jennifer Petrie said after her Toreros swept Pepperdine 25-19, 25-18, 25-23 to run their WCC record to 15-0 and their overall record to 22-4.

“This has been a tremendous run. It’s a dream to win it at home against the second-place team (Pepperdine). This team has the most heart, the most determination. They wanted this.”

USD has three regular-season matches remaining before learning who its NCAA Tournament opponent will be. The Toreros will play host to Pacific next Tuesday and Gonzaga on Nov. 29. They need one win to claim the WCC title outright.

Nemo Beach led USD with 21 kills against Pepperdine. Olivia Bennett, the only holdover from the 2022 USD team that reached the NCAA semifinals, had 29 digs and six assists. Kylie Munday had 36 assists and 14 digs.

Elsewhere:

Point Loma Nazarene’s men’s soccer team opens NCAA Division II Tournament play at home Saturday afternoon. The Sea Lions (15-3-1) are ranked 14th in the nation and seeded third in the NCAA West Super Regional. After getting a first-round bye, PLNU will host sixth-seeded Cal State San Bernardino (9-3-7) Saturday at 1 p.m. PLNU is both the regular season and PacWest Conference tournament champion. CSUSB defeated PLNU 2-1 in the season opener for both teams in September.

• PLNU women’s soccer team (10-4-5) saw its season end Thursday in a 2-1 loss to 21st-ranked Azusa Pacific (12-3-4) in the first round of the NCAA Division II Super Regionals in Bellingham, Wash. Zoe Crockett scored in 38th minute off a free kick by Grace Nelson to give PLNU a 1-0 lead. PLNU had a 13-7 edge in shots.

• Cuyamaca College opens defense of its California Community College men’s soccer title on campus. Third-seeded Cuyamaca (18-1-2), the champions of the Pacific Coast Athletic Association, will host Fullerton (8-6-7) on Saturday. Fullerton eliminated San Diego City College (11-7-5) 1-0 earlier this week.

MiraCosta College (12-4-6) will play at fourth-seeded El Camino College (12-5-6) at 1 p.m. Saturday after defeating Golden West 2-0 in the first round on goals by Silas Tackaberry (Escondido High School) and Dominik Wicks (Oceanside High School) and behind a shutout by Omar Garcia Velez. Cypress eliminated Palomar College (11-8-3) 1-0 in the first round.

• MiraCosta College (13-4-6) and Southwestern College (15-3-4) play in Saturday’s second round of the women’s state soccer tournament.

MiraCosta defeated Los Angeles Pierce College 1-0 in the first round. Shelby Maldonado (Vista High School) scored the game’s only goal on a feed from Amslee Mikichi with Monica Martinez (Pacific View Charter) making five saves in the shutout. Tenth-seeded MiraCosta will play at Santa Barbara.

Southwestern (15-3-4) defeated Ventura 1-0 at home in the first round, with Rebecca Perez (High Tech High) scoring the game’s only goal in the 86th minute. The Jaguars play at Mount San Antonio on Saturday. Pasadena City College eliminated Palomar College (11-5-5) 4-0 in the first round.