
Book 'Em Danno: USC Goes 5-0 In Hawaii
September 05, 2010 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 4, 2010
HONOLULU - Junior All-American outside hitter Alex Jupiter (Paris, France/Redondo Union HS) posted 17 kills with six blocks Saturday as the No. 10 USC Women of Troy swept the Michigan State Spartans, 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-15), in Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic action. Jupiter hit .483 (17-3-29) as the Women of Troy hit a sparking .407 for the match.
Freshman outside hitter Falyn Fonoimoana added 10 kills while hitting .381 (10-2-21) with junior setter Kendall Bateman registering two kills, 41 assists and two blocks for USC (5-0). The Trojans outblocked the Spartans by an 11.5-7.5 margin, holding their opponents to a .210 hitting percentage for the match.
Becca Zlbais led the Spartans (4-2) with nine kills and seven digs.
Back-to-back hitting errors by the Spartans gave USC the 13-8 lead in the first set before Zbalis knocked down an overpass as three straight made it a 13-11 score. Jupiter tallied an ace, followed by Katie Fuller's kill for a five-point lead, 16-11. Bateman snuck a kill to push the advantage to seven, 20-13. MSU added three straight on its own, but USC used consecutive blocks to take charge of the set as Jupiter closed it out for the 1-0 lead.
Fonoimoana started three straight points as USC led, 16-13, in the second set. Jupiter chipped in two kills as USC went up, 21-17, but the Spartans rallied. Three points from MSU brought the deficit to one at 21-20. A service error and net violation kept USC ahead at 23-20, but the Spartans kept USC on its toes as Natalie Emro tied it at 23-23 with the kill. USC called its final timeout and Jupiter took advantage after the break with a kill. Fonoimoana finished for the Women of Troy to stave off the MSU rally.
A key 5-1 run early in the third set paved the way for the Trojan sweep as they took the 12-6 lead and went on to record the win.
The tournament concludes tomorrow as USC plays No. 4 Hawai'i at 5 p.m. Honolulu time with live stats available online (sidearmstats.com/hawaii/wvball).
Notes: USC now leads the all-time series with Michigan State by a 7-1 margin...the lone loss in the series came last season in East Lansing, Michigan...middle blocker Lauren Williams is hitting .545 on the season...Alex Jupiter's .483 hitting percentage is a personal season high...Katie Fuller had a season-high eight kills in the match.
USC 25-25-25MSU 17-23-15
Records: USC (5-0), Michigan State (4-2)Kills:Alex Jupiter 17 (USC), Becca Zlabis 9 (MSU)
Team: USC MSU1 .444 .1252 .367 .4583 .414 .091Match .407 .210