No. 13 USC Hosts No. 25 Huskies and No. 19 Cougars

LOS ANGELES – No. 13 USC (18-7, 10-4 Pac-12) rides a three-match winning streak into a pivotal home weekend at Galen Center. The Women of Troy host No. 25 Washington (15-9, 7-7) on Thursday (Nov. 8) at 8 p.m. PT and then face No. 19 Washington State (18-6, 9-5) on Sunday (Nov. 11) at 1:30 p.m. seeking revenge for an earlier five-set loss to the Cougars. The Trojans can tighten their hold on second place in the Pac-12 standings with two more wins. USC trails only 14-0 Stanford with six regular-season matches remaining. The Women of Troy have had to prove their mettle against one of the toughest schedules in the nation. They own nine wins over ranked opponents and were recently tabbed as the sixth-ranked team under the NCAA's ratings percentage index.

MATCH #26
No. 13 USC (18-7, 10-4) vs. No. 25 Washington (15-9, 7-7)
Thursday, Nov. 8 • 8 p.m. PT
Galen Center • Los Angeles, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 41-27 (.603)
LAST MEETING: W, 3-1 (Oct. 17, 2018 • Seattle, Wash.)
CURRENT STREAK: Won 1 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 3-7
TV: Pac-12 Wash. (Kevin Barnett & Tammy Blackburn)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: GoHuskies.com

MATCH #27
No. 13 USC (18-7, 10-4) vs. No. 19 Wash. St. (18-6, 9-5)
Sunday, Nov. 11 • 1:30 p.m. PT
Galen Center • Los Angeles, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 50-15 (.769)
LAST MEETING: L, 3-2 (Oct. 19, 2018 • Pullman, Wash.)
CURRENT STREAK: Lost 1 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 7-3
STREAM: Pac-12+ (Paul Duchesne)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: WSUCougars.com

FIRST SERVE

USC is ranked 13th in the latest AVCA Coaches Top 25 poll. The Trojans face their 16th and 17th ranked opponents this season; 8th and 9th of last 11.
The Women of Troy are No. 6 in the NCAA's ratings percentage index (RPI).
The Trojans are 9-6 in 15 matches with ranked opponents in 2018.
USC is currently alone in second place in the Pac-12 standings (10-4).
The Trojans are 159-34 (.824) all-time at Galen Center.
Washington owns five victories over USC at Galen Center; third most behind Stanford (8) and UCLA (6). WSU has never won at Galen Center.
Five of the last nine meeting between USC and Washington State has gone five sets. Each of WSU's three wins were five-set victories.
The Trojans' win over Oregon State was the program's 1,050th all-time.
It is Homecoming/Reunion Week on the USC campus.
USC is led by So. OH Brooke Botkin (4.44 kps) and Jr. All-American OH Khalia Lanier (4.34 kps). Fr. setter Raquel Lázaro (11.49 aps) runs the Trojan offense. Sr. libero Victoria Garrick (4.83 dps) anchors the defense.

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 10-4 league record. They sit behind only undefeated Stanford (14-0). Despite having seven losses on its record, USC holds the nation's No. 6 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. The Trojans 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 (4.44 kps) and junior transfer Emily Baptista (2.73 kps). Freshman setter Raquel Lázaro has been named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week four times and is third in the league at 11.49 assists per set. On defense, the Women of Troy turn to senior libero Victoria Garrick (4.83 dps). In the middle, transfer Jasmine Gross ranks second in the Pac-12 with 115 total blocks.

LAST TIME OUT: USC earned a pair of 3-0 sweeps in Oregon to extend to a three-match winning streak. The Trojans avenged a loss to the Ducks suffered at Galen Center behind a 19-kill performance from Brooke Botkin. Khalia Lanier tallied her 34th-career double-double with 15 kills and 13 digs while Emily Baptista added 10 kills from the right side. The Women of Troy needed two deuce-point wins in sets one and two before it ran away for a 25-17 win in the third. Without Botkin against the Beavers, the Trojans started strong and got a 25-20 win in set one, but after losing Lanier in the second set, USC weathered the Oregon State comeback to get a 26-24 win in the second and 25-23 in the third. Baptista was instrumental in the win with18 kills and 12 digs for her first double-double as a Trojan.

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 508 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 10 double-doubles in 2018 and has 11-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 lead the team this year. Junior OPP Emily Baptista was pressed into six-rotation action against Oregon State and logged her first double-double as a Trojan; the ninth of her career.

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 led UP to its first-ever upset of a top-10 opponent on a 3-2 victory at San Diego (Nov. 10, 2016).

TERMINAL 3: USC is the only Pac-12 squad with two players in the top 10 for kills. So. OH Brooke Botkin (4.44 kps) and Jr. OH Khalia Lanier (4.34 kps) rank third and fourth respectively. USC is also one of only three teams (Stanford, Oregon) with three players in the top 25. Jr. OPP Emily Baptista (2.73 kps) ranks 25th in the Pac-12. Together, the three Women of Troy account for 11.51 kills per set.

CAN YOU DIG IT?: Senior libero Victoria Garrick is the 17th player in program history to collect 1,000 career digs. She now has 1,501 career digs and moved into the program's top-10 career ladder in a match against Cal on Sept. 30; passing All-American outside hitters April Ross and Jennifer Kessy. Next on her radar, she needs 36 digs to surpass Nancy Hillman and move into the top five (1,536 digs; 1985-88). Garrick is one of just six Trojans ever to record 1,500-career digs and is among the same company with at least 500 digs in a single season. She stands among defensive greats Debora Seilhamer, Natalie Hagglund, Taylor Whittingham, Katie Haller, and Alli Hillgren. Garrick had 519 digs in 2017 to rank 10th in USC's single-season record books.

KILLER K: Junior OH Khalia Lanier is the first Trojan to reach the 1K mark in just her freshman and sophomore seasons. Only one other Trojan collected more than 1,000 kills in her first two seasons with the program. All-American OH Asia Kaczor did so but transferred to Troy and reached the milestone as a junior and senior. Lanier now has 1,406 career kills and needs 67 to overtake 10th place on USC's career ladder (1,472; Megan McCallister, 1987-90). In terms of points, Lanier already ranks fourth (1,577.5) in USC history.

HELPING HAND: Freshman setter Raquel Lázaro dished out 55 assists in her collegiate debut. It was the highest single-match total by a Trojan setter since 2012 (Hayley Crone). She later posted 53 assists to go with 22 digs to post her first-career double-double. She is first in the Pac-12 in total assists with 1,080 and ranks third in the conference with 11.49 assists per set.

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Players Mentioned

Emily Baptista

Brooke Botkin

Victoria Garrick

Jasmine Gross

Khalia Lanier