Saturday, December 2
Los Angeles, CA
5:00 PM
USC
24-9
3
vs
2
San Diego
25-5
1
2
3
4
5
F
San Diego
22
26
26
22
11
2
USC
25
24
24
25
15
3
Team Stats
USD
USC
Kills
61
65
Errors
37
28
Attempts
176
170
Hitting %
.136
.218
Points
80.0
82.0
Assists
60
62
Aces
5
3
Blocks
14.0
14.0
Game Leaders
Kills
23
Aces
1
Blocks
2
Kills
14
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
6
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
10
Players Mentioned
OPP
/ Women's Volleyball
DS
/ Women's Volleyball
OPP
/ Women's VolleyballMB
/ Women's Volleyball
L
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's VolleyballOPP
/ Women's Volleyball
Photo by: Jon Kondrath
10th-Seeded USC Tops Toreros to Advance to NCAA Regional Semifinal
December 02, 2017 | Women's Volleyball, Features
The Women of Troy will play in their sixth NCAA regional semifinal in the last eight years
LOS ANGELES – The 10th-seeded and 14th-ranked USC women's volleyball team (24-9) defeated No. 9-ranked San Diego (25-5) in a hard-fought five-set match (25-22, 24-26, 24-26, 25-22, 15-11) in the second round of the 2017 NCAA DI Championship at the Galen Center on Saturday, Dec. 2. The victory propels the Women of Troy into their sixth NCAA regional semifinal appearance in the last eight years and will send the Trojans to Gainesville, Fla., next weekend to face seventh-seeded Minnesota (28-5) on Dec. 8.
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The Women of Troy were led by sophomore outside hitter Khalia Lanier who collected 23 kills (8e, 58att, .259) to go with six digs, two blocks, and a service ace. It was Lanier's third straight match above the 20-kill threshold. Senior opposite hitter Niki Withers tallied 14 kills (8e, 31att, .194) and added four blocks (one solo).
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Senior opposite hitter Brittany Abercrombie had 12 kills (5e, 36att, .194) to go with six blocks while senior middle blocker Jordan Dunn hit .583 with seven kills (0e, 12att) and led the team with 10 blocks (two solo). Senior middle blocker Danielle Geiger earned three kills (2e, 5att, .200) and had three blocks. Freshman outside hitter Brooke Botkin had five kills and two digs.
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Defensively, the Trojans got 14 digs from junior libero Victoria Garrick, who became the 17th Trojan to reach the 1,000-dig mark in her career. Garrick was also just one assist shy of her second-career double-double. Sophomore defensive specialist Jenna Adams put up 12 digs and served one of the Trojans' three aces.
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USC hit .218 in the match (65k, 28e, 170att). Senior setter Reni Meyer-Whalley dished out 32 assists and had 14 digs for her 11th double-double of the season (20th of her career). Sophomore setter Cindy Marina had 19 assists to go with nine digs.
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For San Diego, four players had double-digit kills, led by Jayden Kennedy's 16-kill outing (6e, 49att, .204). Addie Picha (2e, 28att, .357), Lauren Fuller (9e, 34att, .088), and Kaity Edwards (7e, 27att, .185) each had 12 kills apiece. Picha had a double-double with 10 blocks (one solo). Setter Kristen Gengenbacher had 51 assists and led all players with 19 digs to go with four blocks and a service ace.
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The Women of Troy never trailed to take a 25-22 win in the first set. Despite the Toreros' best efforts to fight back, USD could only tie the score three times, the last at 22-all. Withers' tool-shot gave the lead back to USC before Lanier served up an ace for set point. Following another tough serve, Withers ended a furious rally with her fourth kill of the frame to sew up the win. The Trojans hit .286 in the first set and collected 13 kills (3e) on 35 swings. USD had 16 kills but committed nine errors for a .179 hitting rate.
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The Trojans led by five points at 18-13 when Ford scored a kill down the line and Withers teamed with Geiger for the block, but three straight Torero blocks and a setting error by the Trojans brought USD within a point at 18-17. San Diego went ahead and the Trojans tied the score each time through 24-all before Roxie Wiblin's kill gave the Toreros the final set point they would need. Another setting error sealed the Trojans' fate in a 26-24 set-two loss. The Women of Troy committed nine errors and had 13 kills on 39 swings to hit .103 in the second set but were just a shade behind the Toreros' .108 outing (12k, 8e, 37att).
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USD led nearly the entire length of the third set including by seven points at 21-14, but the Trojans fought back to knot the score at 22-all on a massive 8-1 run culminating with back-to-back kills by Dunn and Abercrombie. The Toreros went ahead three more times despite kills by Lanier and Abercrombie to pull USD back into ties at 23- and 24-all before Kennedy's kill got USD set point at 25-24. The Toreros closed the set with a block for a 26-24 win.
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Lanier got two kills to sandwich another by Geiger as the duo helped the Trojans break a 19-all tie for a 22-20 lead in the fourth. Geiger later teamed with Abercrombie for the block and set point at 24-21. The Toreros saved one set point but couldn't overcome their own errors as the Trojans completed a 25-22 win. USC had 11 kills in the fourth but hit just .167 (5e); but still out-paced the USD attack, which had 14 kills with 11 errors on 43 swings (.070).
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The Toreros had early control of the fifth set, but the Trojans earned the third tie of the frame on a solo block by Withers at five-all. The teams traded barbs until USC stepped ahead for a 9-7 lead on a short 3-0 burst with a kill by Botkin, an ace by Meyer-Whalley, and a kill from Lanier. San Diego responded with a 3-0 run of its own to regain the lead at 10-9 following a kill by Kennedy. The Trojans took timeout and came out with a vengeance as Dunn and Abercrombie went back-to-back for kills and then combined for a block for a 12-10 USC lead. Fuller got the kill out of a USD timeout to stem the tide, but Abercrombie and Lanier earned back-to-back kills for a 14-11 match point before USD's final error closed out a 15-11 win for the Women of Troy. USC hit .500 in the final set and had 11 kills (2e) on just 18 swings. San Diego had six kills and three errors (16att) for a .188 hitting rate.
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For more information on the USC women's volleyball team and a complete schedule and results, please visit USCTrojans.com. Fans of the Women of Troy can follow @USCWomensVolley on Periscope, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram.
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MATCH NOTES
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USC HEAD COACH MICK HALEY
On his team's fight from down, 2-1, to win in five sets
"This is a great win for us because we're continuing to grow and get better. All the things that we've had happen to us during the season happened to us again during set two and three. No one knew who would win set four until right at the end and we started making the right decisions down the stretch and executed the right way. I was really impressed in set five. We had 11 kills on 18 attempts with only two errors. Even though we had some errors, we still came out on top. This is one that can really spring us for the regionals. We really need to know that we can do this and come back from deficits under pressure. It was nice doing it at home. Now, we'll see if we can do it on the road."
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On the challenges that San Diego presented to his team
"[Jayden] Kennedy on the right side is a really fine player. We were finally able to close her down after a very effective first and second sets. Then, they started going to their middles and the left side, and we had to figure out how to get that under control. Throughout the whole match, I felt our serving was consistently strong and aggressive. I think that's what eventually wore down the team yesterday (Central Arkansas) and helped us wear down USD today. San Diego is an extremely good team. They are worthy of that No. 9 coaches ranking. I was glad that the committee recognized us with the 10th seed, which I think we were both pretty equal coming in. You look at today's match and you can see just how back-and-forth it was. Their setter was really good and they certainly did a lot of really nice things, but all-in-all, I think we had more firepower."
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On the impact that senior MB Jordan Dunn had on the match
"I have to tell you: if Jordan Dunn was healthy… you have to realize she never practices this year. She only plays in games. The thing that shocked me was that she was sick yesterday and I asked her if we should hold her out. She said to me, 'coach – this is my fourth year and I've never played in an NCAA tournament match. I've always been hurt or sick.' So she really wanted to play and was actually under the weather today too. But she was really good. That's what a shutdown senior middle blocker can do for you. She can change the whole tempo of the game."
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The Women of Troy were led by sophomore outside hitter Khalia Lanier who collected 23 kills (8e, 58att, .259) to go with six digs, two blocks, and a service ace. It was Lanier's third straight match above the 20-kill threshold. Senior opposite hitter Niki Withers tallied 14 kills (8e, 31att, .194) and added four blocks (one solo).
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Senior opposite hitter Brittany Abercrombie had 12 kills (5e, 36att, .194) to go with six blocks while senior middle blocker Jordan Dunn hit .583 with seven kills (0e, 12att) and led the team with 10 blocks (two solo). Senior middle blocker Danielle Geiger earned three kills (2e, 5att, .200) and had three blocks. Freshman outside hitter Brooke Botkin had five kills and two digs.
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Defensively, the Trojans got 14 digs from junior libero Victoria Garrick, who became the 17th Trojan to reach the 1,000-dig mark in her career. Garrick was also just one assist shy of her second-career double-double. Sophomore defensive specialist Jenna Adams put up 12 digs and served one of the Trojans' three aces.
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USC hit .218 in the match (65k, 28e, 170att). Senior setter Reni Meyer-Whalley dished out 32 assists and had 14 digs for her 11th double-double of the season (20th of her career). Sophomore setter Cindy Marina had 19 assists to go with nine digs.
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For San Diego, four players had double-digit kills, led by Jayden Kennedy's 16-kill outing (6e, 49att, .204). Addie Picha (2e, 28att, .357), Lauren Fuller (9e, 34att, .088), and Kaity Edwards (7e, 27att, .185) each had 12 kills apiece. Picha had a double-double with 10 blocks (one solo). Setter Kristen Gengenbacher had 51 assists and led all players with 19 digs to go with four blocks and a service ace.
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The Women of Troy never trailed to take a 25-22 win in the first set. Despite the Toreros' best efforts to fight back, USD could only tie the score three times, the last at 22-all. Withers' tool-shot gave the lead back to USC before Lanier served up an ace for set point. Following another tough serve, Withers ended a furious rally with her fourth kill of the frame to sew up the win. The Trojans hit .286 in the first set and collected 13 kills (3e) on 35 swings. USD had 16 kills but committed nine errors for a .179 hitting rate.
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The Trojans led by five points at 18-13 when Ford scored a kill down the line and Withers teamed with Geiger for the block, but three straight Torero blocks and a setting error by the Trojans brought USD within a point at 18-17. San Diego went ahead and the Trojans tied the score each time through 24-all before Roxie Wiblin's kill gave the Toreros the final set point they would need. Another setting error sealed the Trojans' fate in a 26-24 set-two loss. The Women of Troy committed nine errors and had 13 kills on 39 swings to hit .103 in the second set but were just a shade behind the Toreros' .108 outing (12k, 8e, 37att).
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USD led nearly the entire length of the third set including by seven points at 21-14, but the Trojans fought back to knot the score at 22-all on a massive 8-1 run culminating with back-to-back kills by Dunn and Abercrombie. The Toreros went ahead three more times despite kills by Lanier and Abercrombie to pull USD back into ties at 23- and 24-all before Kennedy's kill got USD set point at 25-24. The Toreros closed the set with a block for a 26-24 win.
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Lanier got two kills to sandwich another by Geiger as the duo helped the Trojans break a 19-all tie for a 22-20 lead in the fourth. Geiger later teamed with Abercrombie for the block and set point at 24-21. The Toreros saved one set point but couldn't overcome their own errors as the Trojans completed a 25-22 win. USC had 11 kills in the fourth but hit just .167 (5e); but still out-paced the USD attack, which had 14 kills with 11 errors on 43 swings (.070).
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The Toreros had early control of the fifth set, but the Trojans earned the third tie of the frame on a solo block by Withers at five-all. The teams traded barbs until USC stepped ahead for a 9-7 lead on a short 3-0 burst with a kill by Botkin, an ace by Meyer-Whalley, and a kill from Lanier. San Diego responded with a 3-0 run of its own to regain the lead at 10-9 following a kill by Kennedy. The Trojans took timeout and came out with a vengeance as Dunn and Abercrombie went back-to-back for kills and then combined for a block for a 12-10 USC lead. Fuller got the kill out of a USD timeout to stem the tide, but Abercrombie and Lanier earned back-to-back kills for a 14-11 match point before USD's final error closed out a 15-11 win for the Women of Troy. USC hit .500 in the final set and had 11 kills (2e) on just 18 swings. San Diego had six kills and three errors (16att) for a .188 hitting rate.
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For more information on the USC women's volleyball team and a complete schedule and results, please visit USCTrojans.com. Fans of the Women of Troy can follow @USCWomensVolley on Periscope, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram.
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MATCH NOTES
- USC improved to 11-1 in all-time matches against San Diego and have won each of the last two in the NCAA second round.
- The Trojans improved to 12-2 at the Galen Center to close the season and earned the program's 151st win in the building (151-32 all-time). USC also went to 19-3 in all-time NCAA tournament matches played at the arena.
- The Women of Troy advanced to their sixth NCAA regional semifinal match in the last eight years (the 12th time in 17 years under head coach Mick Haley).
- USC improved to 48-14 in all-time NCAA tournament matches under Haley.
- Jr. L Victoria Garrick became the 17th player in program history to reach the 1,000-dig threshold as she finished with 14 digs for a new career total of 1,005.
- Sr. S Reni Meyer-Whalley earned her 11th double-double of the season (20th career) with 32 assists and 14 digs.
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USC HEAD COACH MICK HALEY
On his team's fight from down, 2-1, to win in five sets
"This is a great win for us because we're continuing to grow and get better. All the things that we've had happen to us during the season happened to us again during set two and three. No one knew who would win set four until right at the end and we started making the right decisions down the stretch and executed the right way. I was really impressed in set five. We had 11 kills on 18 attempts with only two errors. Even though we had some errors, we still came out on top. This is one that can really spring us for the regionals. We really need to know that we can do this and come back from deficits under pressure. It was nice doing it at home. Now, we'll see if we can do it on the road."
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On the challenges that San Diego presented to his team
"[Jayden] Kennedy on the right side is a really fine player. We were finally able to close her down after a very effective first and second sets. Then, they started going to their middles and the left side, and we had to figure out how to get that under control. Throughout the whole match, I felt our serving was consistently strong and aggressive. I think that's what eventually wore down the team yesterday (Central Arkansas) and helped us wear down USD today. San Diego is an extremely good team. They are worthy of that No. 9 coaches ranking. I was glad that the committee recognized us with the 10th seed, which I think we were both pretty equal coming in. You look at today's match and you can see just how back-and-forth it was. Their setter was really good and they certainly did a lot of really nice things, but all-in-all, I think we had more firepower."
Â
On the impact that senior MB Jordan Dunn had on the match
"I have to tell you: if Jordan Dunn was healthy… you have to realize she never practices this year. She only plays in games. The thing that shocked me was that she was sick yesterday and I asked her if we should hold her out. She said to me, 'coach – this is my fourth year and I've never played in an NCAA tournament match. I've always been hurt or sick.' So she really wanted to play and was actually under the weather today too. But she was really good. That's what a shutdown senior middle blocker can do for you. She can change the whole tempo of the game."
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