No. 15 USC Wraps Regular Season with Utes and Bruins

LOS ANGELES – 15th-ranked USC (20-9, 12-6 Pac-12) concludes the regular season as host in its only meeting against Utah (16-13, 8-10) on Wednesday (Nov. 21) and a finale at crosstown rival UCLA (13-12, 8-10) on Friday (Nov. 23). For the first and only week this season, the Trojans will not face a ranked opponent. USC, which is 11-7 in 18 matches with ranked foes, seeks to secure second place in the final Pac-12 standings with a pair of victories and build momentum as selections for the 2018 NCAA tournament will be made on Sunday evening (Nov. 25). The Trojans will honor seniors Victoria Garrick, Reni Meyer-Whalley, Madison Murtagh, and Brittany Welsh prior to their final regular-season home match on Wednesday with ceremonies set for approximately 2:50 p.m. PT.

MATCH #30 • SENIOR DAY 2018
No. 15 USC (20-9, 12-6) vs. Utah (16-13, 8-10)
Wednesday, Nov. 21 • 3 p.m. PT
Galen Center • Los Angeles, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 18-3 (.857)
LAST MEETING: W, 3-1 (Nov. 9, 2017 • Galen Center)
CURRENT STREAK: Won 2 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 8-2
STREAM: Pac-12+ USC
OPPONENT WEBSITE: UtahUtes.com

MATCH #31
No. 15 USC (20-9, 12-6) at UCLA (13-12, 8-10)
Friday, Nov. 23 • 5 p.m. PT
Pauley Pavilion • Los Angeles, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 58-53 (.523)
LAST MEETING: W, 3-0 (Sept. 19, 2018 • Galen Center)
CURRENT STREAK: Won 1 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 4-6
TV: P12 N/LA (Anne Marie Anderson & Holly McPeak)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: UCLABruins.com

FIRST SERVE

USC is ranked 15th in the latest AVCA Coaches Top 25 poll and is No. 8 in the NCAA's ratings percentage index (RPI).
The Trojans are currently in second place in the Pac-12 standings (12-6). They can secure the second spot with two victories this week and will finish no worse than in a second-place tie with at least one more win. USC can finish no lower than in a tie for third place in the final standings.
This week is USC's first and only regular-season week without a ranked opponent on the schedule.
The Trojans are 11-7 in 18 matches against ranked opponents in 2018.
USC faces an unranked UCLA for the first time in five years (Nov. 27, 2013).
The Trojans have won 20 matches in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2012-13 and reached the 20-win mark for the 33rd time in program history. It is Brent Crouch's first-career 20-win season as a head coach.
USC has played the last four matches in the absence of All-American OH Khalia Lanier, who has been held out due to concussion protocols.

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, and Instagram by searching for @USCWomensVolley.

USC IN BRIEF: The Women of Troy are second in the Pac-12 standings with a league record of 12-6. They sit behind only undefeated Stanford (18-0) and will take second outright with a pair of wins this week. One more win will guarantee the Trojans a finish no worse than a second-place tie (with Oregon). As it stands, USC can finish no lower than in a tie for third place in the final standings. Despite the nine losses on its record, USC holds the nation's No. 8 RPI ranking thanks to having endured an incredibly difficult non-conference schedule. The Trojans were 8-3 in those matches and earned wins over No. 4 Florida and No. 5 Kentucky. USC fell to then-No. 3 BYU but also claimed victories over No. 13 Creighton and No. 23 San Diego. Under first-year head coach Brent Crouch, USC boasts a formidable offense with All-American OH Khalia Lanier leading the charge (4.34 kps). She is joined on the pins by sophomore standout Brooke Botkin (4.47 kps) and junior transfer Emily Baptista (2.90 kps). Freshman setter Raquel Lázaro has been named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week four times and is third in the league at 11.29 assists per set. On defense, the Women of Troy turn to senior libero Victoria Garrick (4.86 dps). In the middle, transfer Jasmine Gross ranks second in the Pac-12 with 129 total blocks.

LAST TIME OUT: Without starting All-American outside hitter Khalia Lanier for the third- and fourth-consecutive matches, the Trojans came away with a split in a trip to the desert. USC needed to go the distance to get a thrilling five-set win over No. 24 Arizona, which turned out to be the Trojans' 11th win over a ranked foe this season and gave USC its 33rd all-time 20-win season; the first-career 20-win campaign for head coach Brent Crouch. Arizona State came out early and jumped on the Women of Troy to take the first two sets in Tempe. Behind a double-double from Brooke Botkin, USC fought back and took set three, but the Sun Devils were too much as they snapped an 11-match skid with their four-set upset victory of the Trojans. It was only USC's second loss to an unranked opponent this season.

AGREE TO DISAGREE: The Women of Troy lead the all-time series with rival UCLA by a 58-53 margin. Ask someone in blue and gold and they'll tell you otherwise. The Bruins claim to lead the series with a record of 64-57. UCLA's program, which started in 1972, is several years the senior to the one at USC (1976) and earned a handful of victories over the Trojans before the Women of Troy officially started a varsity program. In those four seasons, the Bruins racked up 11 wins against USC's club team, which are included in UCLA's all-time record.

AVCA POLL POSITION: The Trojans opened 2018 ranked No. 10 after finishing the 2017 campaign in the No. 7 spot. Overall, the Trojans have appeared in the poll 510 times and have held a spot among the poll's top 10 teams 316 times, which ranks seventh all-time. The Trojans have also held the No. 1 ranking 47 times previously, which is sixth all-time.

PAC-12 POW(ER)S: USC players have received Pac-12 Player of the Week honors 75 times (third most among league teams). Since 2011, when the Pac-12 began honoring separate offensive and defensive players of the week and named a freshman of the week, Trojans have earned 19 offensive awards, 10 defensive awards, and taken home 18 freshman honors. In the first week of the 2018 season, sophomore OH Brooke Botkin received her first-career league honor as the Offensive Player of the Week and freshman setter Raquel Lázaro was chosen for Freshman of the Week honors. Lázaro repeated as the Freshman of the Week in week two and received her third FOW honor on Sept. 24; fourth on Oct. 15.

DOUBLE DOWN: Eight Trojans on this year's squad have recorded career double-doubles. Junior OH Khalia Lanier has nine this season and leads all players with 34-career double-doubles. Sophomore OH Brooke Botkin has recorded 11 double-doubles in 2018 and has 12-career double-double matches. Freshman setter Raquel Lázaro logged her first-career double-double with 53 assists and 22 digs against Creighton and has 11 double-doubles to share team-high honors with Botkin. Junior OPP Emily Baptista was pressed into six-rotation action against Oregon State (Nov. 4) and logged her first double-double as a Trojan. She now has three as a Trojan and 11-career double-doubles.

CROUCHING TIGER: First-year USC head coach Brent Crouch led the Trojans to a win over No. 5-ranked Kentucky in his first match at the helm (Aug. 24). In his previous position as Portland's head coach, he led the Pilots to their first-ever wins over ranked opponents including the very first ever; a victory against San Diego (Nov. 14, 2015). The following year, Crouch helped lead UP to its first-ever upset of a top-10 opponent on a 3-2 victory at San Diego (Nov. 10, 2016). Crouch registered his first-career 20-win season on USC's 3-2 victory over Arizona on Nov. 16 in Tucson, Ariz., this season.

TERMINAL 3: USC is the only Pac-12 squad with two players in the top 10 for kills. So. OH Brooke Botkin (4.47 kps) and Jr. OH Khalia Lanier (4.34 kps) rank third and fourth respectively. USC is also the only team with three players in the top 20. Jr. OPP Emily Baptista (2.90 kps) ranks 20th in the Pac-12. Together, the three Women of Troy account for 11.71 kills per set.

20-20 VISION: The Trojans reached 20 wins on their 3-2 win against Arizona on Nov. 16 in Tucson, Ariz. The win registered the program's first back-to-back 20-win seasons since 2012-13. USC was 25-10 in 2017 and reached the threshold for five straight years between 2009-13; including a 30-win season in 2012. USC has now had 33 20-win seasons all-time.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Emily Baptista

Brooke Botkin

Victoria Garrick

Jasmine Gross

Khalia Lanier

Reni Meyer-Whalley

Madison Murtagh

Brittany Welsh