University Southern California Trojans
Thursday, November 7
Los Angeles, Calif.
7:00 PM
USC
vs
Utah
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Volleyball
OPP
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
L
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
Photo by: Katie Chin
Trojan Volleyball Hosts Utes and Buffs at Galen Center
November 04, 2019 | Women's Volleyball, Features
The Women of Troy look to bounce back from a split weekend on the road and open a new winning streak
LOS ANGELES – The USC women's volleyball team (13-9, 7-5 Pac-12) returns home to host No. 16 Utah (16-7, 8-4) and Colorado (10-12, 2-10) at Galen Center this week. The Trojans meet the Utes on Thursday (Nov. 7) and then take on the Buffaloes on Saturday (Nov. 9) in a pair of matches set for 7 p.m. PT starts. Both will be live streamed on Pac-12+. Despite currently sitting in seventh place, a pair of wins this weekend could propel the Women of Troy into at least a tie for second place. USC's 7-5 Pac-12 mark is only one match behind five teams tied for second with 8-4 records. With just eight regular-season matches remaining, the Trojans play only once outside the state of California including five times at home as they look to generate momentum heading into the postseason.
MATCH #23 • Thursday, Nov. 7 • 7 p.m. PT
USC (13-9, 7-5) vs. No. 16 Utah (16-7, 8-4)
Galen Center • Los Angeles, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 18-5 (.783) • LAST 10: 6-4
LAST MEETING: L, 2-3 (Oct. 13, 2019 • Salt Lake City)
WATCH: Pac-12+ (Paul Duchesne & Victoria Garrick)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: UtahUtes.com
MATCH #24 • Saturday, Nov. 9 • 7 p.m. PT
USC (13-9, 7-5) vs. Colorado (10-12, 2-10)
Galen Center • Los Angeles, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 17-1 (.944) • LAST 10: 9-1
LAST MEETING: W, 3-1 (Oct. 11, 2019 • Boulder, Colo.)
WATCH: Pac-12+ (Carlo Jimenez & Hunter Patterson)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: CUBuffs.com
FIRST SERVE
TROJAN BRIEF CASE: USC is loaded at the pins and returns a pair of All-American outside hitters in Khalia Lanier (4.70 kps) and Brooke Botkin (2.90 kps). The Trojan hitters receive sets from the 2018 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Raquel Lázaro (10.78 aps). All four of USC's top attackers return from last season. In the middle, senior Jasmine Gross (2.09 kps, .397) returns. Among newcomers, USC welcomes MB Madison Horin (0.76 kps, 0.88 bps), OH Kalen Owes (2.19 kps), and OPP Emilia Weske (2.03 kps) as part of a heralded freshman class. Defensively, the Trojans have employed several different liberi this season including Jenna Adams (2.65 dps) who returns this season after sitting out 2018 due to injury and Raegan LeGrand (2.71 dps) who has started 11 matches this season. The Trojans have been hit hard by injuries to key players at various stages of the season and have had to field 16 different starting lineups in their 22 matches.
LAST TIME OUT: The Women of Troy rallied after seeing All-American OH Brooke Botkin depart with an injury in the third set to complete a 3-2 victory over No. 12-ranked Washington on the road. OH Khalia Lanier powered the Trojan offense with a career-high 33 kills and 36.0 points; and secured four of her kills in the final 10 rallies to complete a 15-11 win in the fifth. The victory gave USC a 2-0 regular-season sweep of the Huskies for the first time since 2011. With only nine players available, the Trojans dropped a 3-1 decision to No. 22 Washington State on the Palouse. Lanier logged her 39th-career double-double and scored 23 more kills against the Cougars in the loss. Setter Raquel Lázaro put up her 14th double-double of the season.
MOVING PLANETS: Sr. OH Khalia Lanier's 33 kills in a five-set road win over Washington was the most by a Trojan since All-American Alex Jupiter also had 33 in a five-setter to beat Hawai'i in the 2011 NCAA Regional Championship match (Dec. 9). The 33-kill performances tie for 10th in school history with two-such outputs by Tracy Clark from 1984. Lanier's 36.0 points rank sixth in the USC record books and are the most since Jupiter's 37.5 points (fifth all-time) against the Wahine in 2011. During her match at Washington, Lanier moved ahead of Jupiter in the USC career record books for attempts and now has 4,856 to rank second all-time behind only Samantha Bricio. Lanier now needs only 111 kills to catch Jupiter in second place for career kills at USC and is 238.0 points behind Jupiter on USC's career points ladder.
TOUGH SLEDDING: The Trojans played one of the toughest non-conference slates in the country in 2019. USC was one of 10 teams that began the season with back-to-back contests against teams that finished in the top 25 of the NCAA's final 2018 ratings percentage index (RPI). The Trojans were one of only three programs that tackled five straight teams that finished 2018 in the top 25. The other two programs were Texas and Creighton. Among the ranked opponents, USC met No. 3 Texas and No. 22 Texas State on opening weekend and then have No. 8 Kentucky, No. 13 Creighton, No. 16 Northern Iowa this week. USC itself was No. 9 in the final published RPI.
AVCA POLL POSITION: The Trojans opened 2019 ranked No. 14, but fell out of the poll on Sept. 30. It was USC's first time unranked in the poll since the 2017 preseason poll. That year, USC finished at No. 7 following a run to the NCAA's regional championship match. Overall, the Trojans have appeared in the poll 517 times, which ranks third all-time. USC has held a spot among the poll's top 10 teams 316 times, which ranks eighth 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 77 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 20 offensive awards, 11 defensive awards, and taken home 19 freshman honors. On Sept. 16, Sr. MB Jasmine Gross was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week for the first time in her career and OH Kalen Owes was chosen for Freshman of the Week honors. Khalia Lanier's choice as the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week on Nov. 4 was her fourth-career selection. Only Trojans Samantha Bricio (9), Natalie Hagglund (5), Asia Kaczor (5), and Jennifer Kessy (5) have been chosen more times. Lanier's four selections match fellow Women of Troy Jasmina Marinkovic and Katie Olsovsky.
DOUBLE DOWN: Six Women of Troy on this year's squad have recorded career double-doubles. Senior OH Khalia Lanier leads all players with 39-career double-doubles. Junior OH Brooke Botkin has 17-career double-double matches. Sophomore setter Raquel Lázaro has logged 26 double-doubles (14 this season) and is the owner of the first and only USC triple-double in the rally scoring era (36 assists, 16 digs, 11 blocks at Northern Iowa). Senior OPP Emily Baptista has three as a Trojan and 11-career double-doubles. Senior MB Jasmine Gross has had four. Freshman OH Kalen Owes posted her first-career double-double (18 kills, 15 digs) against Creighton on Sept. 7, and is already up to three-career double-doubles. Freshman OPP Emilia Weske picked up her first-career double-double on Oct. 18 at Oregon State.
MATCH #23 • Thursday, Nov. 7 • 7 p.m. PT
USC (13-9, 7-5) vs. No. 16 Utah (16-7, 8-4)
Galen Center • Los Angeles, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 18-5 (.783) • LAST 10: 6-4
LAST MEETING: L, 2-3 (Oct. 13, 2019 • Salt Lake City)
WATCH: Pac-12+ (Paul Duchesne & Victoria Garrick)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: UtahUtes.com
MATCH #24 • Saturday, Nov. 9 • 7 p.m. PT
USC (13-9, 7-5) vs. Colorado (10-12, 2-10)
Galen Center • Los Angeles, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 17-1 (.944) • LAST 10: 9-1
LAST MEETING: W, 3-1 (Oct. 11, 2019 • Boulder, Colo.)
WATCH: Pac-12+ (Carlo Jimenez & Hunter Patterson)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: CUBuffs.com
FIRST SERVE
- Second-year USC head coach Brent Crouch is 35-20 at Troy (90-86 career).
- The Women of Troy are 167-39 (.811) all-time at Galen Center, including 6-2 at home this season. Both losses were in five sets to ranked opponents.
- USC has employed 16 different starting lineups through 22 matches.
- The Trojans play seven of their final eight regular-season matches in the state of California. USC's only remaining out-of-state match is at ASU (Nov. 27)
- The Women of Troy are currently seventh in the Pac-12 standings but are only one match out of second place where there is a five-team tie.
- Sr. OH Khalia Lanier has reached double-digit kills in all 18 matches she has played in; including eight times over 20 kills. She is the 26th player in Pac-12 history to cross the 1,800 kill plateau in her career (1,807).
- Lanier was chosen as the Nov. 4 Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week for her fourth-career weekly conference award; USC's 77th all-time.
- So. S Raquel Lázaro is the only Trojan to have played all 91 sets this season. She leads the team with 14 double-double matches (26 in her career).
TROJAN BRIEF CASE: USC is loaded at the pins and returns a pair of All-American outside hitters in Khalia Lanier (4.70 kps) and Brooke Botkin (2.90 kps). The Trojan hitters receive sets from the 2018 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Raquel Lázaro (10.78 aps). All four of USC's top attackers return from last season. In the middle, senior Jasmine Gross (2.09 kps, .397) returns. Among newcomers, USC welcomes MB Madison Horin (0.76 kps, 0.88 bps), OH Kalen Owes (2.19 kps), and OPP Emilia Weske (2.03 kps) as part of a heralded freshman class. Defensively, the Trojans have employed several different liberi this season including Jenna Adams (2.65 dps) who returns this season after sitting out 2018 due to injury and Raegan LeGrand (2.71 dps) who has started 11 matches this season. The Trojans have been hit hard by injuries to key players at various stages of the season and have had to field 16 different starting lineups in their 22 matches.
LAST TIME OUT: The Women of Troy rallied after seeing All-American OH Brooke Botkin depart with an injury in the third set to complete a 3-2 victory over No. 12-ranked Washington on the road. OH Khalia Lanier powered the Trojan offense with a career-high 33 kills and 36.0 points; and secured four of her kills in the final 10 rallies to complete a 15-11 win in the fifth. The victory gave USC a 2-0 regular-season sweep of the Huskies for the first time since 2011. With only nine players available, the Trojans dropped a 3-1 decision to No. 22 Washington State on the Palouse. Lanier logged her 39th-career double-double and scored 23 more kills against the Cougars in the loss. Setter Raquel Lázaro put up her 14th double-double of the season.
MOVING PLANETS: Sr. OH Khalia Lanier's 33 kills in a five-set road win over Washington was the most by a Trojan since All-American Alex Jupiter also had 33 in a five-setter to beat Hawai'i in the 2011 NCAA Regional Championship match (Dec. 9). The 33-kill performances tie for 10th in school history with two-such outputs by Tracy Clark from 1984. Lanier's 36.0 points rank sixth in the USC record books and are the most since Jupiter's 37.5 points (fifth all-time) against the Wahine in 2011. During her match at Washington, Lanier moved ahead of Jupiter in the USC career record books for attempts and now has 4,856 to rank second all-time behind only Samantha Bricio. Lanier now needs only 111 kills to catch Jupiter in second place for career kills at USC and is 238.0 points behind Jupiter on USC's career points ladder.
TOUGH SLEDDING: The Trojans played one of the toughest non-conference slates in the country in 2019. USC was one of 10 teams that began the season with back-to-back contests against teams that finished in the top 25 of the NCAA's final 2018 ratings percentage index (RPI). The Trojans were one of only three programs that tackled five straight teams that finished 2018 in the top 25. The other two programs were Texas and Creighton. Among the ranked opponents, USC met No. 3 Texas and No. 22 Texas State on opening weekend and then have No. 8 Kentucky, No. 13 Creighton, No. 16 Northern Iowa this week. USC itself was No. 9 in the final published RPI.
AVCA POLL POSITION: The Trojans opened 2019 ranked No. 14, but fell out of the poll on Sept. 30. It was USC's first time unranked in the poll since the 2017 preseason poll. That year, USC finished at No. 7 following a run to the NCAA's regional championship match. Overall, the Trojans have appeared in the poll 517 times, which ranks third all-time. USC has held a spot among the poll's top 10 teams 316 times, which ranks eighth 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 77 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 20 offensive awards, 11 defensive awards, and taken home 19 freshman honors. On Sept. 16, Sr. MB Jasmine Gross was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week for the first time in her career and OH Kalen Owes was chosen for Freshman of the Week honors. Khalia Lanier's choice as the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week on Nov. 4 was her fourth-career selection. Only Trojans Samantha Bricio (9), Natalie Hagglund (5), Asia Kaczor (5), and Jennifer Kessy (5) have been chosen more times. Lanier's four selections match fellow Women of Troy Jasmina Marinkovic and Katie Olsovsky.
DOUBLE DOWN: Six Women of Troy on this year's squad have recorded career double-doubles. Senior OH Khalia Lanier leads all players with 39-career double-doubles. Junior OH Brooke Botkin has 17-career double-double matches. Sophomore setter Raquel Lázaro has logged 26 double-doubles (14 this season) and is the owner of the first and only USC triple-double in the rally scoring era (36 assists, 16 digs, 11 blocks at Northern Iowa). Senior OPP Emily Baptista has three as a Trojan and 11-career double-doubles. Senior MB Jasmine Gross has had four. Freshman OH Kalen Owes posted her first-career double-double (18 kills, 15 digs) against Creighton on Sept. 7, and is already up to three-career double-doubles. Freshman OPP Emilia Weske picked up her first-career double-double on Oct. 18 at Oregon State.
Women's Volleyball - USC 3, Michigan 1: Highlights (11/28/25)
Friday, November 28
USC Women's Volleyball vs. Michigan State Highlights | Trojans win 3-0
Wednesday, November 26
USC Women's Volleyball vs Illinois | Trojans win 3-0
Saturday, November 22
Women's Volleyball - USC 3, Oregon 1: Highlights (11/19/25)
Wednesday, November 19
