11th-Seeded Trojans Meet Samford to Open NCAA Run

LOS ANGELES – The 11th-seeded USC women's volleyball team (21-10) opens its 2018 NCAA tournament run as host of first- and second-round matches at Galen Center this weekend. The Women of Troy will meet Southern Conference champion Samford (19-14) in their first-round match while Big West champ Cal Poly (25-2) takes on San Diego (16-12) from the West Coast Conference in the other first-round bout. Winners will meet on Saturday (Dec. 1) for the right to move into the regional semifinals. The Trojans are 19-3 at Galen Center in NCAA tournament matches since 2006.

MATCH #32 • NCAA FIRST ROUND
[11] No. 17 USC (21-10) vs. Samford (19-14)
Friday, Nov. 30 • 8 p.m. PT
Galen Center • Los Angeles, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: First meeting
STREAM: Pac-12+ USC (Paul Duchesne)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: SamfordSports.com
TICKETS: USCTrojans.com/tickets

NCAA FIRST ROUND MATCH • Galen Center
No. 13 Cal Poly (25-2) vs. San Diego (16-12)
Friday, Nov. 30 • 6 p.m. PT

NCAA SECOND ROUND MATCH • Galen Center
Saturday, Dec. 1 • 7 p.m. PT

FIRST SERVE

USC holds the 11th seed in the NCAA tournament. The Trojans are ranked 17th in the final regular-season AVCA Coaches Top 25 poll and No. 9 in the NCAA's ratings percentage index (RPI).
The Women of Troy finished in a tie for second place in the Pac-12 (Oregon).
Against one of the toughest schedules in the nation, USC produced 11 wins over AVCA-ranked opponents in 18 contests.
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 is 125-39 all-time in postseason matches with a 79-32 mark in the NCAA tournament. The Trojans have won six national titles (three NCAA crowns).
The Women of Troy are 160-36 at Galen Center with a 19-3 record in NCAA tournament matches since the arena opened in 2006.
Fr. S Raquel Lázaro was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year. Jr. OH Khalia Lanier and So. OH Brooke Botkin earned All-Pac-12 status.

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 faced one of the toughest regular-season schedules in the nation and finished with a 21-10 mark in head coach Brent Crouch's first year at the helm. USC finished 13-7 in a tie for second place in the Pac-12 with Oregon. The Trojans' berth in the NCAA tournament is the program's 36th all-time and 28th consecutive. Despite the losses on its record, USC held the nation's No. 9 RPI ranking at the end of the regular season thanks to having endured an incredibly difficult non-conference schedule. The Trojans were 8-3 and earned key 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. USC boasts a formidable offense with All-Pac-12 OHs Khalia Lanier (4.30 kps) and Brooke Botkin (4.45 kps) at the pins. Junior Emily Baptista (2.89 kps) is also a threat from the right side. Freshman setter Raquel Lázaro was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and is third in the league at 11.20 assists per set. On defense, the Women of Troy turn to senior libero Victoria Garrick (4.79 dps). In the middle, Jasmine Gross ranks second in the Pac-12 with 136 total blocks.

LAST TIME OUT: On short practice and rest, the Women of Troy welcomed All-American OH Khalia Lanier back to the lineup, but struggled in the team's regular-season home finale and lost to Utah in straight sets. Two days later, against crosstown rival UCLA, Lanier poured in 18 kills and a service ace to help the Women of Troy take a five-set victory over the Bruins. Brooke Botkin tallied her 12th double-double of the season and notched 21 kills and 25 digs to go with three service aces in the win. The split week put the Trojans in a deadlock for second place in the final Pac-12 standings with Oregon.

PAC-12 PRIZES: Jr. OH Khalia Lanier collected her third All-Pac-12 award this week and was joined on the all-conference team by So. OH Brooke Botkin. The duo pushed USC's program total to 75 all-time certificates awarded to 38 different Women of Troy. Jr. OPP Emily Baptista and Fr. S Raquel Lázaro each received honorable mention All-Pac-12 status. Lázaro was chosen to the All-Freshman Team and was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year. She is the eighth Trojan to receive that honor from the Pac-12 and the first since 2013 (Ebony Nwanebu). Including all-conference selections preceding the Pac-12, Trojans now hold 98 all-league recognitions since 1977.

USC'S NCAA HISTORY: USC is 125-39 (.762) in all-time postseason matches and has a 79-32 (.712) 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.

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

AGAINST THE FIELD: USC has faced 17 of teams that made the 2018 NCAA field including No. 1 Stanford, No. 4 BYU, No. 9 Creighton, No. 10 Kentucky, No. 13 UCF, No. 14 Marquette, No. 15 Oregon, and No. 16 Washington State. The Trojans were 13-9 in 22 matches against tournament teams.

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 511 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 12 double-doubles in 2018 and has 13-career double-double matches. Freshman setter Raquel Lázaro logged her first-career double-double with 53 assists and 22 digs against Creighton and has 12 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 (4.45 kps) and Jr. OH Khalia Lanier (4.30 kps) rank third and fourth respectively. USC is also the only team with three players in the top 20. Jr. OPP Emily Baptista (2.89 kps) ranks 20th in the Pac-12. Together, the three Women of Troy account for 11.64 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.

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Players Mentioned

Emily Baptista

Brooke Botkin

Victoria Garrick

Jasmine Gross

Khalia Lanier