University Southern California Trojans
USC
Wisconsin
Women's Volleyball Squad Falls To Wisconsin
December 14, 2000 | Women's Volleyball
Dec. 14, 2000
Richmond, Va. -- Second-seeded USC saw only one player hit above .300 as the Trojans' dream season came to an end with a 10-15, 9-15, 9-15 loss to fourth-seeded Wisconsin in front of 7,783 in the NCAA Semifinals at the Richmond Coliseum on Thursday (Dec. 14).
USC ended the spectacular year with a 29-3 record, while accomplishing each of its goals by winning a share of the program's first-ever Pac-10 title and making its first appearance in the NCAA Final Four since 1985. Wisconsin advanced to the NCAA championship match and eventually fell to top-ranked Nebraska, 2-3.
After jumping to a 3-0 lead in the first game of the night, little seemed to go right for the Trojans who were shocked to see a season of restored prominence come to an end.
USC recorded its second-lowest hitting percentage of the season, connecting on .147 percent with 32 errors (the Trojans hit an identical .147 in a 3-0 loss to UCLA on Nov. 3). The team also committed 14 service errors (the second highest of the season), and could only watch as Wisconsin gained a 16.5 to 6.0 blocking advantage.
"This is never easy to be in this position," said USC Interim Head Coach Jerritt Elliott. "I have to tip my hat to Wisconsin, which executed very well today.
"It was different. We weren't able to pass the ball as well as we would have liked. Our defense wasn't as crisp as it was in the past."
For the Badgers, it was outside hitter Sherisa Livingston and middle blocker Jenny Maastricht who made the biggest impact. Livingston contributed match highs of 21 kills and six blocks. Maastricht posted 20 kills (10 in the second game) and four blocks.
Livingston put three consecutive kills away to pull out the first game for Wisconsin and the Badgers dominated after that, taking 10-2 and 11-1 leads in the final two games.
"They played a good match," said junior middle blocker Jennifer Pahl. "They were going over us a lot on the block, but we could've been more disciplined."
Senior outside hitter Janae Henry led with 15 kills but suffered with a .051 attack percentage. Freshman April Ross added 13, but was also only able to hit .158 on the night. The marks were both season-lows for each player. Senior Antoinette Polk led with 14 digs and Pahl tallied five blocks.
"We've been playing so well the last couple of weeks, but my hat's off to Wisconsin, they played an awesome match," said Henry. "It's frustrating and difficult but we weren't the same team we've been this season."
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RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Jenny Kropp had 16 kills and Laura Pilakowski added 13 as top-ranked Nebraska beat No. 3 Hawaii 15-3, 15-12, 9-15, 15-10 on Thursday night to advance to the NCAA Division I women's volleyball championship.
The Cornhuskers (33-0) will attempt to become only the second undefeated NCAA champion in the event's 19-year history when they face No. 4 Wisconsin on Saturday. Wisconsin (33-3) beat No. 2 Southern California 15-10, 15-9, 15-9 in the second semifinal.
"Finally!" Nebraska setter Greichaly Cepero said. "We've been talking about this since the beginning of the season, and now here we are. Now we've just got to go out and do it one more time."
The Cornhuskers outblocked Hawaii 23-7 1/2, scoring five of their final six points in the fourth game on blocks.
"We had two great days of practice," middle blocker Amber Holmquist. "We knew what they wanted to do. We knew their rotations. We knew what their tendencies were."
Lily Kahumoku had 18 kills for Hawaii (31-2), and Kim Willoughby added 15 kills and 15 digs.
Sherisa Livingston had 21 kills and Jenny Maastricht added 20 in Wisconsin's victory over Southern California. Livingston has a school-record 635 kills this season.
Janae Henry had 15 kills and 11 digs for Southern California (29-3). April Ross added 13 kills and 11 digs.
