No. 10 USC Stays Road-Bound For Milwaukee Matchups

LOS ANGELES – The 10th-ranked USC women's volleyball team (5-1) continues its challenging non-conference schedule with battles at the 2018 Marquette Invitational this weekend (Sept. 7-8) in Milwaukee, Wis. For the third straight week, the Women of Troy will face a team ranked in the AVCA's Top 5. This time, USC takes on No. 3 BYU (5-0) in a Friday-morning bout. The evening gets no easier as the Trojans meet tournament-host No. 25-ranked Marquette (5-1). The Trojans close the tournament with a first-time match against Syracuse (2-0) on Saturday. All matches will be played at the Al McGuire Center on the Marquette campus.

2018 MARQUETTE INVITATIONAL
AL McGUIRE CENTER • MILWAUKEE, WIS.
Hosted by Marquette University

MATCH #7
No. 10 USC (5-1) vs. No. 3 BYU (5-0)
Friday, Sept. 7 • 10 a.m. CT (8 a.m. PT)
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 12-5 (.706)
LAST MEETING: W, 3-0 (Aug. 29, 2015 • Galen Center)
CURRENT STREAK: Won 5 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 6-4
OPPONENT WEBSITE: BYUCougars.com

MATCH #8
No. 10 USC (5-1) at No. 25 Marquette (5-1)
Friday, Sept. 7 • 7 p.m. CT (5 p.m. PT)
SERIES RECORD: Tied, 1-1 (.500)
LAST MEETING: L, 3-1 (Aug. 26, 2016 • Galen Center)
CURRENT STREAK: Lost 1 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 1-1
STREAM: GoMarquette.com
OPPONENT WEBSITE: GoMarquette.com

MATCH #9
No. 10 USC (5-1) vs. Syracuse (2-0)
Saturday, Sept. 8 • 3 p.m. CT (1 p.m. PT)
SERIES RECORD: First meeting
OPPONENT WEBSITE: Cuse.com

FIRST SERVE

USC plays in its third consecutive tournament in which it will face an opponent ranked in the AVCA Top 5 (No. 3 BYU). It is also the second tourney for USC this fall where three ranked teams will face off.
The four teams at the Marquette Invitational have a combined 17-2 record entering the weekend.
USC is 6-1 all-time in matches played in the state of Wisconsin including a 2-0 mark the last time it traveled to Milwaukee in 2013 (Marquette/TCU).
Fr. S Raquel Lázaro has been named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week twice in as many weeks (Aug. 27 and Sept. 3).
USC is led by So. OH Brooke Botkin and Jr. All-American OH Khalia Lanier.

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: In just two weekends, first-year head coach Brent Crouch has guided the Women of Troy to wins over No. 4 Florida, No. 5 Kentucky, and No. 13 Creighton. It's a treacherous road for the Trojans as their non-conference slate continues with a pair of ranked opponents including USC's third opponent ranked in the top five (No. 3 BYU). The Trojans hold a 6-1 record all-time in the state of Wisconsin and earned two wins in their last trip to the Badger State in 2013 (Marquette and TCU). The Trojans boast a formidable offense with All-American OH Khalia Lanier leading the charge (3.91 kps). She is joined on the pins by sophomore standout Brooke Botkin (4.43 kps) and junior transfer Emily Baptista (2.70 kps). In her first two collegiate weekends, freshman setter Raquel Lázaro was impressive enough to earn back-to-back Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors. On defense, the Women of Troy are led by senior libero Victoria Garrick (5.00 dps) who leads the conference in digs and is one of just 17 Women of Troy to collect over 1,000 career digs.

LAST TIME OUT: USC won the Bubly Invitational hosted by Florida with a four-set victory over the No. 4-ranked Gators and a sweep of Louisville. The Trojans lost a hard-fought match with unranked Central Florida (3-1). UF also finished 2-1 but the Trojans claimed the crown by virtue of their head-to-head result. Junior OH Khalia Lanier was named the tournament's MVP and was joined on the all-tournament team by sophomore OH Brooke Botkin and freshman setter Raquel Lázaro.

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 499 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 16 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.

NOT TOO BAD(GER): USC owns a 6-1 all-time record in matches played in the state of Wisconsin. The last time the Trojans ventured into the Badger state, they earned a 3-1 win over TCU and a 3-0 sweep of Marquette in the 2013 Marquette Challenge (Sept. 6). The Trojans' only loss in Wisconsin was to Wisconsin in 1998.

DOUBLE DOWN: Eight Trojans on this year's squad have recorded career double-doubles. Junior OH Khalia Lanier has three this season and leads all players with 28-career double-doubles. Sophomore OH Brooke Botkin has recorded four double-doubles in 2018 and has five-career double-double matches. Freshman setter Raquel Lázaro logged her first-career double-double with 53 assists and 22 digs against Creighton and has two-career double-doubles.

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 1,162 career digs and needs 142 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 1,092 career kills and needs 381 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.

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Players Mentioned

Emily Baptista

Brooke Botkin

Victoria Garrick

Khalia Lanier