Saturday, August 26
Los Angeles, CA
1:00 PM
USC
3
vs
1
Albany
Players Mentioned
OPP
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
DS
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
OPP
/ Women's Volleyball
USC Volleyball Claims Tournament Title on 3-1 Win Over UAlbany
August 26, 2017 | Women's Volleyball, Features
The Women of Troy put the Great Danes on leashes to remain undefeated at 3-0 this season
LOS ANGELES – The USC women's volleyball team (3-0) produced its third straight four-set win on Saturday (Aug. 26) with a 3-1 victory (25-16, 23-25, 25-21, 25-18) over UAlbany (0-3) at Galen Center to claim the USC/LMU Tournament title. The three-match winning streak is the program's longest since it won three in a row Oct. 14-21, 2016.
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Four Trojans reached double-digit kills in the match, led by sophomore outside hitter Khalia Lanier. Lanier finished with 16 kills (4e, 33att) on a .364 hitting percentage to go with six digs and a service ace in just three sets of action. Senior opposite hitter Brittany Abercrombie had 12 kills (2e, 23att) and hit .435 in the match. She also put up six digs to go with two blocks.
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Junior outside hitter Alyse Ford added 12 kills (4e, 25att) with a .320 hitting percentage and had six digs with a service ace. Senior opposite hitter Niki Withers was the fourth Trojan with double figures and finished with 11 kills (2e, 19att) and a .474 hitting rate. Withers also added three digs and a pair of blocks to her final tally.
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As a team, the Women of Troy hit .369 (61k, 16e, 122att) and were over the .350 mark for the third straight match. Senior setter Reni Meyer-Whalley had 25 assists with nine digs and sophomore Cindy Marina totaled 22 assists with five digs and a service ace. The Trojans finished with eight service aces including two each from junior middle blocker Madison Murtagh and senior defensive specialist Nikki Leonard.
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For the Great Danes, Akuabata Okenwa led the way with 13 kills (3e, 33att, .303), eight digs, and three blocks. Tatiana Tiangco had 11 kills (5e, 25att, .240) with a service ace. Nicole Otero led all players with 13 digs.
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USC ran away with the first set thanks to a .500 hitting performance (16k, 3e, 26att). The Trojans built a nine-point lead at 13-4 on a service ace by Leonard and stayed on top by nine at 17-8 on a crosscourt kill by Lanier. The Danes made a small push to get within seven points, but back-to-back kills by Ford gave the Women of Troy set point before a UAlbany error closed the door on the first set.
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The Great Danes seized early control of the second set and maintained a two- or three-point cushion throughout the belly of the frame. The Trojans caught up and went ahead, 19-18, on two kills by Ford, but the Danes settled down and took set point with a block before one last kill sealed a 25-23 win in favor of UAlbany.
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The Trojans struggled to pull away from UAlbany in the third, but created small two-point leads from time to time. Abercrombie collected a crosscourt kill to break the 10th and final tie of the set. The kill sparked a 4-0 USC run with kills by senior middle blocker Danielle Geiger and Lanier; and a service ace by Marina. Lanier and Withers took turns tooling the Dane block before a misplaced UAlbany serve ended the set, 25-21, for the Women of Troy.
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In the fourth, UAlbany took a brief lead early on, but the Trojans wrestled it away and went ahead for good on back-to-back-to-back kills from Ford. The run put USC on top, 11-9. The Women of Troy continued to roll as Ford picked up another kill followed by one each from Lanier and Abercrombie. Lanier's kill pushed USC ahead by four, 17-13, but the Great Danes trimmed the lead to one at 17-16 on a short 3-0 run. Withers' off-speed shot earned a kill and then Lanier, junior middle blocker Brittany Welsh, and Ford picked up three kills in a row to put the Trojans at the door, 23-17. Two rallies later, Abercrombie scored the final point to seal the 3-1 win.
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Next up, the Women of Troy play the first of three consecutive weekends on the road and begin with a tough tournament in Omaha, Neb. USC will face Northern Iowa, No. 9 Creighton, and No. 14 Kentucky in a 30-hour span at the D.J. Sokol Arena as part of the Bluejay Invitational, presented by First National Bank. All matches will feature live stats and streams. Links can be found at USCTrojans.com.
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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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Four Trojans reached double-digit kills in the match, led by sophomore outside hitter Khalia Lanier. Lanier finished with 16 kills (4e, 33att) on a .364 hitting percentage to go with six digs and a service ace in just three sets of action. Senior opposite hitter Brittany Abercrombie had 12 kills (2e, 23att) and hit .435 in the match. She also put up six digs to go with two blocks.
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Junior outside hitter Alyse Ford added 12 kills (4e, 25att) with a .320 hitting percentage and had six digs with a service ace. Senior opposite hitter Niki Withers was the fourth Trojan with double figures and finished with 11 kills (2e, 19att) and a .474 hitting rate. Withers also added three digs and a pair of blocks to her final tally.
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As a team, the Women of Troy hit .369 (61k, 16e, 122att) and were over the .350 mark for the third straight match. Senior setter Reni Meyer-Whalley had 25 assists with nine digs and sophomore Cindy Marina totaled 22 assists with five digs and a service ace. The Trojans finished with eight service aces including two each from junior middle blocker Madison Murtagh and senior defensive specialist Nikki Leonard.
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For the Great Danes, Akuabata Okenwa led the way with 13 kills (3e, 33att, .303), eight digs, and three blocks. Tatiana Tiangco had 11 kills (5e, 25att, .240) with a service ace. Nicole Otero led all players with 13 digs.
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USC ran away with the first set thanks to a .500 hitting performance (16k, 3e, 26att). The Trojans built a nine-point lead at 13-4 on a service ace by Leonard and stayed on top by nine at 17-8 on a crosscourt kill by Lanier. The Danes made a small push to get within seven points, but back-to-back kills by Ford gave the Women of Troy set point before a UAlbany error closed the door on the first set.
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The Great Danes seized early control of the second set and maintained a two- or three-point cushion throughout the belly of the frame. The Trojans caught up and went ahead, 19-18, on two kills by Ford, but the Danes settled down and took set point with a block before one last kill sealed a 25-23 win in favor of UAlbany.
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The Trojans struggled to pull away from UAlbany in the third, but created small two-point leads from time to time. Abercrombie collected a crosscourt kill to break the 10th and final tie of the set. The kill sparked a 4-0 USC run with kills by senior middle blocker Danielle Geiger and Lanier; and a service ace by Marina. Lanier and Withers took turns tooling the Dane block before a misplaced UAlbany serve ended the set, 25-21, for the Women of Troy.
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In the fourth, UAlbany took a brief lead early on, but the Trojans wrestled it away and went ahead for good on back-to-back-to-back kills from Ford. The run put USC on top, 11-9. The Women of Troy continued to roll as Ford picked up another kill followed by one each from Lanier and Abercrombie. Lanier's kill pushed USC ahead by four, 17-13, but the Great Danes trimmed the lead to one at 17-16 on a short 3-0 run. Withers' off-speed shot earned a kill and then Lanier, junior middle blocker Brittany Welsh, and Ford picked up three kills in a row to put the Trojans at the door, 23-17. Two rallies later, Abercrombie scored the final point to seal the 3-1 win.
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Next up, the Women of Troy play the first of three consecutive weekends on the road and begin with a tough tournament in Omaha, Neb. USC will face Northern Iowa, No. 9 Creighton, and No. 14 Kentucky in a 30-hour span at the D.J. Sokol Arena as part of the Bluejay Invitational, presented by First National Bank. All matches will feature live stats and streams. Links can be found at USCTrojans.com.
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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 2-0 all-time against UAlbany.
- The Women of Troy scored their first three-match winning streak since Oct. 14-21 of 2016 when they won three straight against Oregon, Oregon State, and California. Coincidentally, Oregon was ranked No. 16 at the time, just as Michigan was ranked No. 16 at the time of USC's meeting with the Wolverines (Aug. 25).
- Four Trojans scored double-digit kills: Khalia Lanier (16), Brittany Abercrombie (12), Alyse Ford (12), and Niki Withers (11).
- USC compiled a .365+ hitting percentage for the third consecutive match.
Women's Volleyball - USC 3, Iowa 1: Highlights (10/17/25)
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Women's Volleyball - USC 0, UCLA 3: Highlights (10/11/25)
Saturday, October 11
Women's Volleyball USC 3, Oregon 0: Highlights (10/9/25)
Thursday, October 09
Women's Volleyball - USC 0, Purdue 3: Highlights (10/04/25)
Saturday, October 04
