No. 13 USC Brings Five-Match Streak Into Bay Bouts

LOS ANGELES – The 13th-ranked USC women's volleyball team (10-3, 2-0 Pac-12) takes its five-match winning streak into a pair of pivotal Pac-12 contests in the Bay Area this weekend. The Women of Troy meet No. 2-ranked Stanford (10-1, 2-0) in a nationally-televised match on ESPN2 at Maples Pavilion on Friday (Sept. 28) at 8 p.m. PT and look to snap a four-match losing streak to the Cardinal.

USC then moves to the East Bay for a match-up with California (8-5, 0-2) at Haas Pavilion in a 1 p.m. Sunday matinee. The Trojans have won five straight against the Golden Bears including seven straight in Berkeley. The Women of Troy last went 2-0 in the Bay Area in 2013 and waited seven years (2006) between Bay Area sweeps. When USC meets the second-ranked Cardinal, the Trojans will have faced teams ranked Nos. 2, 3, 4, and 5 in the nation. The Women of Troy are 5-2 in seven matches against ranked foes.

MATCH #14
No. 13 USC (10-3, 2-0) at No. 2 Stanford (10-1, 2-0)
Friday, Sept. 28 • 8 p.m. PT
Maples Pavilion • Stanford, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: USC trails, 26-63-1 (.289)
LAST MEETING: L, 3-0 (Nov. 15, 2017 • Stanford, Calif.)
CURRENT STREAK: Lost 4 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 4-6
TV: ESPN2 (Sam Gore & Dain Blanton)
STREAM: WatchESPN.com
OPPONENT WEBSITE: GoStanford.com

MATCH #15
No. 13 USC (10-3, 2-0) at California (8-5, 0-2)
Sunday, Sept. 30 • 1 p.m. PT
Haas Pavilion • Berkeley, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 58-12 (.829)
LAST MEETING: W, 3-0 (Nov. 17, 2017 • Berkeley, Calif.)
CURRENT STREAK: Won 5 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 9-1
STREAM: Pac-12+ (Pac-12.com/live)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: CalBears.com

FIRST SERVE

USC is tied for the No. 13 ranking in the latest AVCA top 25 coaches poll with Washington. It is the second time the Trojans share a ranking this season. The first was with UCLA at No. 16 (Sept. 10).
No. 2 Stanford is the eighth ranked opponent the Trojans will face this season. USC is 5-2 against ranked foes and will have faced Nos. 2, 3, 4, and 5.
USC is 2-3 against Stanford in its last five visits to Maples Pavilion.
The Trojans are 8-2 in their last 10 meetings with Cal at Haas Pavilion and have won seven in a row in the Bears' lair.
The Women of Troy last earned a Bay Area sweep in 2013; 2006 before that.
USC is led by So. OH Brooke Botkin (4.34 kps) and Jr. All-American OH Khalia Lanier (4.06 kps). Fr. setter Raquel Lázaro (11.14 aps) runs the Trojan offense. Sr. libero Victoria Garrick (4.70 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 Trojans are on a season-long five-match winning streak. USC ended the non-conference slate with wins over Syracuse, Louisiana, and San Diego; and carried momentum into a 3-0 sweep of crosstown rival UCLA to open the Pac-12 schedule. USC got its fifth straight win in a battle with Colorado at Boulder. The Trojans completed one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the nation with an 8-3 record and earned wins over No. 4 Florida and No. 5 Kentucky. The Trojans fell to No. 3 BYU (currently undefeated and ranked No. 1) and 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 (4.06 kps). She is joined on the pins by sophomore standout Brooke Botkin (4.34 kps) and junior transfer Emily Baptista (2.68 kps). Freshman setter Raquel Lázaro has been named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week three times and is fourth in the league at 11.14 assists per set. On defense, the Women of Troy turn to senior libero Victoria Garrick (4.70 dps); one of just 17 Trojans ever to collect over 1,000 career digs. In the middle, transfer Jasmine Gross leads the Pac-12 with 66 total blocks this season.

LAST TIME OUT: USC collected a big 3-0 sweep of 17th-ranked crosstown rival UCLA to open the Pac-12 schedule. Raquel Lázaro put up a double-double and served six aces including four during a stretch where she helped the Women of Troy take a 25-8 win over the Bruins in the second set. The eight UCLA points marked the lowest total in the rally scoring era history of the rivalry. Emily Baptista powered the offense with 15 kills. Brooke Botkin (12) and Khalia Lanier (10) also scored double-digit kills in the win. In their first Pac-12 road match of the season, the Trojans needed five sets to defeat Colorado in Boulder, Colo. Lanier led with 21 kills this time while Botkin had 19. Jasmine Gross patrolled the middle of the net for four blocks but scored a season-high 17 kills (.615 hitting) to help the Women of Troy come away with a 3-2 victory. Lázaro set the Trojans to a .286 hitting rate and produced her sixth double-double of the season with a career-high 58 assists. The two conference-opening wins pushed USC's winning streak to a season-long five matches.

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 502 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 17 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.

DOUBLE DOWN: Eight Trojans on this year's squad have recorded career double-doubles. Junior OH Khalia Lanier has five this season and leads all players with 30-career double-doubles. Sophomore OH Brooke Botkin has recorded five double-doubles in 2018 and has six-career double-double matches. Freshman setter Raquel Lázaro logged her first-career double-double with 53 assists and 22 digs against Creighton and has six-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 led UP to its first-ever upset of a top-10 opponent on a 3-2 victory at San Diego (Nov. 10, 2016).

CAN YOU DIG IT?: Senior libero Victoria Garrick became the 17th player in program history to collect 1,000 career digs in the Trojans' 2017 NCAA second-round match against San Diego. She now has 1,282 career digs and needs 21 to crack the program's top-10 career ladder; and is chasing three-time All-American April Ross who had 1,303 career digs (2000-03). Garrick is one of just six Trojans to record at least 500 digs in a single season and ranks among greats including Debora Seilhamer, Natalie Hagglund, Taylor Whittingham, Alli Hillgren, and Katie Haller. She had 519 digs in 2017 to rank 10th in USC's single-season record books.

KILLER K: Junior OH Khalia Lanier became the program's 17th player to record 1,000 career kills in the final match of 2017. She 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 1,205 career kills and needs 268 to overtake 10th place on USC's career ladder (1,472; Megan McCallister, 1987-90).

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 second in the Pac-12 in total assists with 557 and ranks fourth in the conference with 11.14 assists per set.

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Players Mentioned

Emily Baptista

Brooke Botkin

Victoria Garrick

Jasmine Gross

Khalia Lanier