No. 13 USC Closes Regular Season Against Top-25 Foes

LOS ANGELES – No. 13 USC (21-8, 13-5 Pac-12) closes the regular season with a short trip to face No. 24 Oregon (16-10, 9-9) on Wednesday (Nov. 22) and then hosts crosstown rival No. 19 UCLA (17-10, 10-8) at Galen Center for Senior Day festivities on Saturday (Nov. 25). A win in either match will lock up at least a tie for second place in the final conference standings. Two wins gives the Trojans second place alone. USC will honor its senior class in pre-match ceremonies at approximately 6:45 p.m. on Saturday prior to first serve with the Bruins.

The Women of Troy are loaded with options at the pins and lean heavily on sophomore OH Khalia Lanier (3.98 kps) and senior OPP Brittany Abercrombie (3.16 kps). Senior OPP Niki Withers (2.56 kps) and freshman OH Brooke Botkin (2.00 kps) are also proven scoring threats in the Trojans' six-hitter offense. Senior MB Jordan Dunn (1.15 bps) and junior MB Brittany Welsh (0.62 bps) occupy the middle of the net. Setters Reni Meyer-Whalley (6.11 aps) and Cindy Marina (5.27 aps) run USC's 6-2 system; and libero Victoria Garrick puts up 3.83 digs per set.

MATCH #30
No. 13 USC (21-8, 13-5) at No. 24 Oregon (16-10, 9-9)
Matthew Knight Arena • Eugene, Ore.
Wednesday, Nov. 22 • 2 p.m. PT
Series Record: USC leads, 52-12 (.813)
Last Meeting: L, 3-1 (Nov. 19, 2016 • Galen Center)
Current Streak: Lost 1 • Last 10 Meetings: 6-4
TV: P12 N/LA/O (Rich Burk & Dain Blanton)
Opponent Website: GoDucks.com

MATCH #31 • SENIOR DAY 2017
No. 13 USC (21-8, 13-5) vs. No. 19 UCLA (17-10, 10-8)
Galen Center • Los Angeles, Calif.
Saturday, Nov. 25 • 7 p.m. PT
Series Record: USC leads, 57-52 (.523)
Last Meeting: W, 3-2 (Sept. 20, 2017 • Pauley Pavilion)
Current Streak: Won 1 • Last 10 Meetings: 4-6
TV: P12 LA (Anne Marie Anderson & Holly McPeak)
Opponent Website: UCLABruins.com

FIRST SERVE

USC's No. 13 position in the latest AVCA coaches poll is a season high.
The Trojans will face Oregon for the only time this regular-season. They also only played Oregon State once (at Galen Center, Sept. 24).
In 12 of the preceding 16 years under head coach Mick Haley, the Trojans have posted at least the same or better record in the back half of conference matches as they have in the front half. (7-3; 6-2)
The Trojans have reached 20 wins in a season for the 13th time in 17 years.
USC owns seven wins over ranked opponents this season: No. 6 Washington, at No. 7 Creighton, at No. 11 UCLA, at No. 12 Utah, No. 15 Utah, No. 16 Michigan, and No. 25 Colorado.

BUT FIRST, LET ME TAKE A #SELFIE: Get social with the Women of Troy! Fans can follow and interact with the USC women's volleyball team on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Periscope by searching for @USCWomensVolley.

LAST TIME OUT: The Trojans split matches in the Bay Area. USC had its five-match winning streak snapped by the fourth-ranked Cardinal in a three-set sweep, but bounced back to take a 3-0 decision over California. The loss to Stanford clinched the Pac-12 title for the Cardinal and was the Trojans' fourth straight but the win over Cal was USC's fifth straight.

LINE DANCING: The Women of Troy have used 10 different starting lineups this season. No player can claim to have started all 29 matches, but three have appeared in all 112 sets for the Trojans: OPP Brittany Abercrombie, and setters Reni Meyer-Whalley and Cindy Marina. Defensive specialist Jenna Adams has played in all but one set for USC.

SHOW AND PROVE: In 12 of the previous 16 years under the direction of head coach Mick Haley, the Trojans have posted at least the same or better records in the back half of league play as they have in the front half. USC completed the front portion of the Pac-12 schedule with a 7-3 record this season. The last time the Trojans were 7-3 on the front end, they went 8-2 to finish with a 15-5 mark in 2012.

900 CLUB: USC head coach Mick Haley ranks third in career NCAA Division I victories (953) among active coaches behind only Penn State's Russ Rose and Navy's Larry Bock. Haley is in his 34th season as a Division I coach, but has 41 years of overall coaching experience and is 1,301-337-1 (.794) in all matches including men's and women's at Kellogg Community College.

NATIONALLY NOTABLE: Two Trojans have received national recognition for their performances this season. Senior OPP Brittany Abercrombie was named the espnW National Player of the Week on Oct. 3 and sophomore OH Khalia Lanier was chosen as the AVCA's National Player of the Week on Nov. 14. Lanier is USC's 10th all-time AVCA National Player of the Week award winner and the first since three-time All-American OH Samantha Bricio was selected on Nov. 10, 2015.

PAC-12 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Trojans have been selected for the Pac-12's Player of the Week award five times this season. Following the opening weekend, sophomore OH Khalia Lanier was honored as the Offensive Player of the Week. It was her first-career POW award after having received one Freshman of the Week award in 2016. On Sept. 25, senior OPP Brittany Abercrombie (offensive) and junior L Victoria Garrick (defensive) were each named Players of the Week for the first times in their careers. Abercrombie became the first Trojan to earn back-to-back selections as the Pac-12 Player of the Week since Samantha Bricio (2015) when she was chosen again on Oct. 2. Women of Troy have garnered weekly honors a total of 73 times, which ranks third in Pac-12 history.

AVCA POLL POSITION: The Trojans opened 2017 unranked in the AVCA's Preseason Coaches Top 25 Poll; the first time that USC has not stood inside the top 25 since the poll's inception in 1982. The program's previous lowest preseason ranking was No. 21 in 1999. USC entered the 2017 rankings in the first regular-season poll (Aug. 28) and were ranked No. 18. Overall, the Trojans have appeared in the poll 494 times and have held a spot among the poll's top 10 teams 312 times, which ranks seventh all-time. The Trojans have also held the No. 1 ranking 47 times previously, which is sixth all-time.

ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS: Four Benjamins to be exact. Head coach Mick Haley earned his 400th victory at USC on Sept. 16, 2016. As the winningest coach in program history, he is now 431-117 in 17 seasons for a .786 winning percentage. Haley surpassed legendary coach Chuck Erbe who logged a 310-121-3 record in 12 seasons as USC's head coach from 1976-77 and 1979-88. Haley's 300th win with Troy also gave him at least 300 wins at three different schools: Kellogg Community College, Texas, and USC.

CLOSING IN: OPP Brittany Abercrombie needs 35 kills to reach 1,000 career kills. She enters the final regular-season week of competition with 965. OH Khalia Lanier has 869 career kills in just two seasons. Only 15 players in USC history have collected 1,000 kills in their careers. Junior libero Victoria Garrick needs 54 digs to hit the 1,000 career digs mark. She enters the week with 946 digs. Garrick would become the 17th player in program history to cross the 1,000-dig plateau.

TOP OF THE BLOCK: Junior MB Brittany Welsh broke out for a 12-block performance in USC's 3-2 win over Utah on Oct. 22. Her net play delivered the winning point on a solo block to end the match. The 12 blocks were Welsh's career-high mark and also marked the highest single-match total for a USC player since All-American Alexis Olgard had 12 against Washington State on Nov. 17, 2012.

1,000 SHIPS: USC's win over Arizona State on Oct. 5, 2016, was the program's 1,000th all-time victory. The Trojans became just the 17th program in NCAA Division I women's volleyball history to reach the 1K milestone. USC is the owner of six national championships (three AIAW and three NCAA) and has won eight conference crowns including two since the inception of the Pac-12 (2011 and 2015). Head coach Mick Haley has led USC to each of its 100-win milestones since the program's 600th victory. The Trojans won their 800th, 900th, and 1,000th all in home matches under Haley's direction.

HOME, SWEET HOME: The Trojans have enjoyed the comforts of home to the tune of a 149-31 (.828) all-time record at the Galen Center. When it comes to the volleyball court, the Women of Troy are less than hospitable to their visitors. The Trojans went 12-1 in home matches in 2011 and completed the 2012 home schedule with a 17-1 mark. In 2007, USC was 19-0 at home on the way to an appearance in the NCAA national semifinal match.

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Players Mentioned

Brittany Abercrombie

Jenna Adams

Brooke Botkin

Jordan Dunn

Victoria Garrick

Khalia Lanier

Cindy Marina

Reni Meyer-Whalley

Brittany Welsh

Niki Withers