USC Faces Minnesota in NCAA Regional Semifinal

LOS ANGELES – 10th-seeded USC (24-9) makes its sixth appearance in the NCAA regional semifinals in the last eight years this week as the Women of Troy head to Gainesville, Fla., to face seventh-seeded Minnesota (28-5) on Friday, Dec. 8, at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. First serve is set for 6 p.m. ET (3 p.m. PT) and the match will be carried live on ESPN3.

Before the Trojans and Gophers go at it, 15th-seeded UCLA (21-10) and No. 2-seed site host Florida (27-1) meet in the other regional semifinal at 4 p.m. ET. Winners of each semifinal will meet on Saturday (Dec. 9) at 6 p.m. ET in the regional championship match, set for broadcast on ESPNU.

AVCA All-Pacific South Region selections sophomore OH Khalia Lanier (4.19 kps) and senior OPP Brittany Abercrombie (3.13 kps) lead the Trojans' attack. The Women of Troy are coached by 17th-year head coach Mick Haley (434-118)

MATCH #34 • NCAA REGIONAL SEMIFINAL
[10] No. 14 USC (24-9) vs. [7] No. 8 Minnesota (28-5)
Exactech Arena at Stephen C. O'Connell Center
Gainesville, Fla.
Friday, Dec. 8 • 6 p.m. ET (3 p.m. PT)
Series Record: USC leads, 3-2-1 (.583)
Last Meeting: W, 3-2 (Aug. 26, 2011 • University Park, Pa.)
Current Streak: Won 1 • Last 10 Meetings: 3-2-1
Live Stats: sidearmstats.com/florida/wvball
Stream/TV: ESPN3
Opponent Website: GopherSports.com
Tickets: FloridaGators.com/tickets

FIRST SERVE

USC is in its 35th all-time appearance in the NCAA tournament; the program's 27th consecutive berth.
The Trojans have advanced to the NCAA regional semifinals in six of the last eight years, but for the first time since 2015.
The Women of Troy are 5-2 all-time in the Sunshine State. USC last played in Florida in 2011 and went 2-1 in Fort Myers, Fla. (lost to Central Florida).
Last year, in the NCAA first round, USC went to Minnesota and played Hawai'i. This year, the Trojans will play Minnesota, but in Florida.
The Women of Troy are 6-1 in five-set matches this season.
USC owns nine wins over ranked opponents this season: No. 6 Washington, at No. 7 Creighton, No. 9 San Diego, at No. 11 UCLA, at No. 12 Utah, No. 15 Utah, No. 16 Michigan, at No. 24 Oregon, 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.

USC IN BRIEF: The Trojans are loaded with options at the pins and lean heavily on All-Pac-12 and AVCA All-Region selections OH Khalia Lanier (4.19 kps) and OPP Brittany Abercrombie (3.13 kps). OPP Niki Withers (2.57 kps) and OH Brooke Botkin (1.91 kps) are also proven scoring threats in the Trojans' six-hitter offense. MB Jordan Dunn (1.02 bps) and MB Brittany Welsh (0.65 bps) hold down the middle of the net. Setters Reni Meyer-Whalley (6.21 aps) and Cindy Marina (5.23 aps) run USC's 6-2 system; and libero Victoria Garrick puts up 3.82 digs per set.

LAST TIME OUT: The Women of Troy opened their run in the 2017 NCAA tournament at home and defeated Central Arkansas in four sets and ninth-ranked San Diego in five. USC's win over the Toreros was the team's ninth over a ranked opponent this fall, and propelled the Trojans into their sixth NCAA regional semifinal appearance in the last eight years. Renu Meyer-Whalley produced her 10th and 11th double-doubles of the season, Khalia Lanier reached 23 and 24 kills in the two matches, and Jordan Dunn had 10 blocks in the win over USD. The win improved USC to 12-2 in matches at the Galen Center this season (151-32 all-time) including a 19-3 mark in NCAA postseason matches played in the arena.

AVCA ALL-REGION HONORS: OPP Brittany Abercrombie and OH Khalia Lanier received AVCA All-Pacific South Region honors this week. Lanier takes home the second honor of her career; Abercrombie her first. Each Trojan was also chosen for Pac-12 All-Conference honors last week. By virtue of their regional honors, both players are now eligible to be chosen as AVCA All-Americans.

PAC-12 PRIZES: OPP Brittany Abercrombie and OH Khalia Lanier were named to the 2017 Pac-12 All-Conference team. Both are repeat winners. OPP Niki Withers received all-conference honorable mention; her first Pac-12 postseason award, Abercrombie and Lanier's selections bring USC's program total to 73 all-time certificates awarded to 37 different Trojans. Including all-conference selections preceding the Pac-12, Trojans now hold 96 all-league recognitions since 1977.

USC'S NCAA HISTORY: USC is 124-38 (.765) in all-time postseason matches and has a 78-31 (.716) record in the NCAA tournament. The Trojans are the owners of six national championships including three NCAA crowns (1981, 2002, '03). USC won the first-ever NCAA championship in 1981.

TOUGH SLEDDING: The Women of Troy are part of the only NCAA regional site with four seeded teams. To make it to the final four, USC will need to battle it out with No. 7-seeded Minnesota and either 15th-seed UCLA or No. 2 Florida. Third-seeded Stanford's region saw 14th-seed Iowa State get upset in the second round by Wisconsin. Fourth-seeded Kentucky's bracket bid farewell to 12th-seed Baylor following a 3-0 sweep by Colorado. Top-seeded Penn State welcomes three unseeded teams to its home court this weekend as No. 8 Washington, No. 9 Creighton, and No. 16 Wichita State each went down in the second round.

FIRST THINGS FIRST: The Trojans are 30-5 in NCAA first-round matches. The only five times that USC has not advanced out of the first round were in 1983, '87, '88, '89, and 2016.

AGAINST THE FIELD: The Women of Troy faced 12 teams that made the 2017 NCAA field including No. 3 Stanford, No. 4 Kentucky, No. 8 Washington, No. 9 Creighton, No. 11 Utah, No. 15 UCLA, Colorado, Michigan, Northern Iowa, Oregon, Oregon State, and Washington State. USC went 11-7 in 18 matches against teams that made the tournament.

LINE DANCING: The Trojans have used 10 different starting lineups this season. No player can claim to have started all 33 matches, but three have appeared in all 128 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.

TIME FOR SUNSHINE: USC is 5-2 in all-time matches played in the state of Florida. The last time the Trojans were in the Sunshine State, they went 2-1 in a non-conference tournament at Fort Myers in early September 2011. There, the Women of Troy defeated Furman and tournament host Florida Gulf Coast in 3-0 sweeps, but were swept by Central Florida.

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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