University Southern California Trojans
USC
UCLA
Women of Troy Narrowly Defeated By Bruins
November 19, 1999 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 19, 1999
Los Angeles, Calif. -- Led by career-best performances from middle blockers Jennifer Pahl and Amber Oliver, the 15th-ranked USC Trojans were narrowly defeated by No. 6 UCLA, 3-1(16-14, 15-6, 15-11, 19-17) tonight, November 19, at North Gym. In front of a season-best crowd of 923, the Women of Troy played one of their longest matches this season in 2 hours, 52 minutes.
USC falls to 18-7 overall and 13-5 in the Pac-10. UCLA improves to 25-2 overall, and 17-1 in conference play. In the final conference match of the 1999 season, USC finished in third among the Pac-10, while UCLA ensured a first-place tie with Stanford.
Pahl led the squad with a career-best 23 kills in the four-game match and added three aces and 11 digs. Oliver posted a career-high 12 kills off of 20 attacks to lead Troy with a .450 attack percentage and four blocks. Aside from Pahl, outside hitters Janae Henry (13 kills, 22 digs) and Antoinette Polk (21 kills, 14 digs) also tallied double-doubles on the night. Once again, team ace Julie Mariani exceeded her season high with five aces in the match. Setters Tracy Lindquist and Hiedi Munneke split time on the court, each averaging 10.33 and 12.33 assists per game, respectively.
The Bruins were led by outside hitter Kristee Porter who posted 25 kills (.304), 13 digs and four blocks. As a team, UCLA out-blocked USC, 16.0 to 8.0, thanks to the efforts of middle blockers Elisabeth Bachman (8 blocks) and Tamika Johnson (5 blocks).
After jumping out to a 5-0 lead in game one, USC maintained a five-point edge through much of the first game. With a 12-7 advantage, the Bruins began to threaten the Trojans' lead, eventually tieing the score, 14-14, following a kill by Porter. UCLA then forced an attack error and tallied an ace for the game victory, 16-14. The Bruins dominated much of game two en route to a 15-6 win, despite USC's 3-2 lead to start. Down by two games, the Trojans again jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the third. This time, Troy maintained the edge with the help of Mariani's three service aces, all for points in a 15-11 USC win. The fourth game was an evenly matched bout as the Trojans and Bruins tied the score eight times in the contest. With a service ace by Munneke, USC tied the score 14-14 before a false fire alarm delayed the match for 15 minutes. Upon returning to the court, USC and UCLA matched eachother point-for-point, reaching game point five times before a ball handling error by Polk gave setter Erika Selsor a service ace and UCLA the match victory.
The Women of Troy have three remaining nonconference matches left to play this season. Tomorrow, November 20, the team will host Fairfield University at North Gym. The match is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. prior to the USC-UCLA 12:30 p.m. football kickoff.
- GO SC -
