University Southern California Trojans
USC Celebrates Alumni Night as Utah Comes to Visit
October 16, 2012 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 16, 2012
USC Match Notes (PDF) 
| Utah Match Notes (PDF)
Match #21
No. 7 USC (17-3, 5-3) vs. Utah (11-10, 2-6)
Galen Center | Los Angeles, Calif.
Friday, Oct. 19 - 6 p.m. PT
Series Record: USC leads, 9-1
Last Meeting: W, 3-0 (Oct. 21, 2011 | Galen Center)
Last 10 vs. Utah: 9-1
Current Streak: Won 6
Radio: USCTrojans.com All-Access (Paul Duchesne)
TV: Pac-12 Networks (Anne Marie Anderson and Holly McPeak)
Opponent Web: www.UtahUtes.com
Match #22
No. 7 USC (17-3, 5-3) vs. Colorado (13-7, 3-5)
Galen Center | Los Angeles, Calif.
Sunday, Oct. 21 - 11 a.m. PT
Series Record: USC leads, 5-0
Last Meeting: W, 3-0 (Oct. 22, 2011 | Galen Center)
Last 10 vs. Colorado: 5-0
Current Streak: Won 5
Radio: USCTrojans.com All-Access (Paul Duchesne)
TV: Pac-12 Networks (Anne Marie Anderson and Holly McPeak)
Opponent Web: www.CUBuffs.com
LOS ANGELES - The seventh-ranked USC women's volleyball team opens up a four-match stretch of home contests with a bout against Utah on Friday, Oct. 19. The Women of Troy will honor players from their past as the program celebrates Alumni Night at the Galen Center. Longtime Athletic Trainer Sue Lerner will also be honored during ceremonies between sets two and three when the Trojans take on the Utes.
USC opened Pac-12 play with a challenging schedule but has emerged with five wins as the first half of league matches wraps up, this weekend. Two of the Trojans' three losses have come on the road, but USC returns to the friendly confines of the Galen Center where it is 9-1, this year.
Freshman OH Samantha Bricio has continued her offensive onslaught since conference matches began and leads the league with 4.69 kps. Junior libero Natalie Hagglund has also picked up the intensity since the start of Pac-12 play and leads all players with 5.58 dps including a match where she had 32 digs.
Last year, in four matches, the Trojans needed just 12 sets to earn four wins against Utah and Colorado, combined. USC can kick-start the second half of league matches with another pair of sweeps. Two more wins would also give the Women of Troy the program's 900th all-time victory. Head coach Mick Haley owns 301 of those wins and needs 10 more to become Troy's most successful coach.
MATCH RECAP (CALIFORNIA): The Trojans bounced back after suffering a 3-0 loss to fourth-ranked Stanford to claim a 3-0 win over California, 25-22, 25-21, 25-20. USC posted a .219 hitting percentage (48k, 18e, 137att) and held the Golden Bears to a .114 outing (33k, 18e, 132att). The Trojans also logged 72 digs in the win and had five players reach double-digits in digs. Sophomore setter Hayley Crone had 10 digs to go with 39 assists for her eighth double-double of the season. Freshman outside hitter Samantha Bricio led all players with 14 kills (7e, 42att, .167) and added 12 digs for her sixth double-double while senior opposite hitter Katie Fuller earned her fourth double-double of the season with 10 kills (3e, 25att, .280) to go with 15 digs. Cal senior Correy Johnson led her team with 10 kills (3e, 31att, .226) and had four blocks.
TWO FROM 900: The USC women's volleyball program is just two wins shy of earning its 900th all-time victory. The Women of Troy are 898-304-4 in 36 seasons.
PANCAKE BREAKFAST: The Women of Troy will host a special all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast when they play Colorado on Sunday, Oct. 21. For $15, fans can enjoy a pre-match meal of pancakes, eggs, and hash browns in the comforts of the Galen Center's Founders Room. Breakfast starts at 9:30 a.m. and first serve against the Buffaloes is set for 11 a.m. PT on the Pac-12 Networks.
TROJANS TO HOST ALUMNI NIGHT: USC will honor its history with a special Alumni Night on Friday, Oct. 19, at the Galen Center when USC faces Utah at 6 p.m. PT. The day will begin with a pre-match dinner that will highlight the accomplishments of past Trojans as well as long-time athletic trainer Sue Lerner who retired after the 2011 season. A special post-match reception will follow.
MEN'S VOLLEYBALL SHOWCASE: Immediately following the USC-Utah match, the Men of Troy will take the court as hosts of UCLA in their annual fall tournament. The Trojans will host nine teams including MPSF opponents UC Irvine, Long Beach State, Cal State Northridge, Stanford, Pacific, and Cal Baptist as well as Grand Canyon. The two-day tournament (Oct. 19-20) will take place on the practice courts in the Galen Center Pavilion and admission is free. Only the USC-UCLA match will be played on the main Galen Center floor. USC has advanced to the men's NCAA Final Four in three of the last four years.
SCOUTING UTAH: The Utes lost their first five Pac-12 matches but have since won two of three and went five sets in a loss to Washington State. Utah is coming off a dominating three-set win over Arizona State (25-15, 25-16, 25-22) in which the Utes posted a .435 hitting percentage (43k, 6e, 85att). Utah also got it done on the defensive side of the net as it out-blocked ASU, 12.0-2.0. The Utes are one of the best blocking squads in the conference and rank second with 3.16 bps. Sophomore middle Bailey Bateman leads the conference with 118 blocks and ranks third with a 1.59 bps average. She also adds 1.80 kps and is hitting .300 this season. Junior middle blocker Erin Redd ranks ninth in the league with a .343 hitting percentage and is Utah's third offensive option with 2.29 kps. On the outside, sophomore Chelsey Schofield fires at a 3.25 kps clip while junior Morgan Odale adds 2.95 kps. Odale also leads the Utes in service aces with 25, this season. The Trojans have won nine of 10 meetings with Utah and are on a six-match winning streak.
SCOUTING COLORADO: The Buffaloes have split home matches in each of the past two weekends and are coming off a 3-2 win against Arizona State and a 3-1 loss to Arizona. Colorado has played just two conference road matches and fell, 3-1, to Oregon State and 3-0 to Oregon in each of those outings. Prior to the start of league matches, the Buffs went 10-2 out of conference. Colorado spreads its offense around with five hitters averaging at least two kills per set. Alexis Austin leads all Buffaloes with 2.96 kps. She is followed by Nikki Lindow who puts up 2.25 kps and Neira Ortiz Ruiz who nets 2.11 kills per set. Lindow is also the fifth-best blocker in the Pac-12 with 1.41 bps. Setter Nicole Edleman ranks sixth in the conference in assists with 9.49 aps and leads the team in service aces with 23, this season (seventh in the Pac-12). As a team, Colorado ranks second in the league in opponent hitting percentage, holding its foes to a .173 rate. USC has not lost to the Buffaloes in five all-time meetings and earned 3-0 sweeps in both matchups last year.
INTER(NATIONAL) RECOGNITION: Freshman OH Samantha Bricio was named the Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week on Oct. 9 in conjunction with her selection as the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week and her third award as the conference Freshman of the Week. She became the seventh different Trojan to receive the national weekly award and it was the eighth time a USC player was chosen. Bricio, a native of Guadalaja, Mexico, is the fourth international player to win the award for Troy. Alex Jupiter (Paris, France), Asia Kaczor (Wroclaw, Poland), and Jasmina Marinkovic (Uzice, Serbia), were her predecessors.
CLASS ACT: Senior opposite hitter Katie Fuller is one of 30 candidates for the Senior CLASS Award. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School ®, the award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make positive impacts as leaders in their communities. To be eligible, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition. The candidate class will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot that will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate.
ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS: Three Benjamins to be exact. Head coach Mick Haley earned his 300th win at USC when the Trojans defeated Arizona State in four sets on Oct. 7. He is 301-67 in 12 seasons with the Trojans for a .818 winning percentage. He now needs just 10 more wins to eclipse the program's winningest coach Chuck Erbe who logged a 310-121-4 record in 12 seasons as USC's head coach from 1976-77 and 1979-88. Haley's 300th win with Troy gives him at least 300 wins at three different schools: Kellogg Community College, Texas, and USC. In nine of his 11 completed seasons, Haley has guided the team to at least 20 wins and has never missed the NCAA tournament during his time on campus.
