USC Heads to Waco to Open NCAA Tournament Play

LOS ANGELES – The USC women's volleyball team (17-13) was selected with an at-large berth into the 2019 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship. It is the school's 29th consecutive appearance in the national tourney (37th all-time). The Trojans face Southland Conference champion Stephen F. Austin (31-1) in the first round in Waco, Texas. In the other first-round match, top-seeded site host and Big 12 Conference champion Baylor (25-1) will meet Northeast Conference champion Sacred Heart (20-11).

MATCH #31 • Friday, Dec. 6 • 5 p.m. CT (3 p.m. PT)
NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND
USC (17-13) vs. Stephen F. Austin (31-3)
Ferrell Center • Waco, Texas
SERIES RECORD: First meeting
WATCH: ESPNU (Lincoln Rose & Katie Staiger)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: SFAJacks.com

FIRST SERVE

USC makes its 29th straight appearance in the NCAA championship tournament (37th all-time). The Trojans missed only the 1986 and 1990 tourneys.
The Trojans are 126-40 (.759) all-time in postseason matches and are 80-33 all-time in the NCAA tournament (.708).
USC has won six national titles (three AIAW) including the first-ever NCAA crown in 1981 and back-to-back NCAA titles in 2002 and 2003.
The Trojans are 30-5 all-time in the state of Texas; 11-2 in postseason contests. USC won the 2003 NCAA championship in Dallas.
Second-year USC head coach Brent Crouch is 39-24 at Troy (94-90 career).
USC has employed 17 different starting lineups this season.
Sr. OH Khalia Lanier has reached double-digit kills in all 26 matches she has played in; including 12 times over 20 kills. She is up to 8th all-time for career kills in Pac-12 history (1,996) and ranks second in USC history.
Sr. MB Jasmine Gross ranks third in the Pac-12 in blocks (1.39 bps) and has 170 total this season, which ranks sixth in USC single-season history.
So. S Raquel Lázaro is the only Trojan to have played all 126 sets this season. She leads the Pac-12 with 20 double-double matches (32 career).

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.

TROJAN BRIEF CASE: USC is loaded at the pins and is led by All-American Khalia Lanier (4.93 kps). All-American Brooke Botkin missed a chunk of the season due to injury but is back in action and posts 2.92 kps. The Trojan hitters receive sets from Raquel Lázaro (10.68 aps). In the middle, Jasmine Gross (2.04 kps, .376) is one of the top blocked in the Pac-12 (1.39 bps). Freshmen MB Madison Horin (0.72 kps, 1.00 bps), OH Kalen Owes (2.16 kps), and OPP Emilia Weske (2.07 kps) are steady pieces of the Trojan rotation and are mighty contributors in their first season on campus. Defensively, the Trojans look to a pair of senior liberi. Jenna Adams (2.40 dps) returned after sitting out 2018 due to injury and Raegan LeGrand (2.92 dps) who has started 19 matches this season. The Trojans were hit hard by injuries to key players at various stages of the season and have fielded 17 different starting lineups.

LAST TIME OUT: USC played a school-record 11th five-set match and beat Arizona State on the road but ended the regular season on a 3-0 loss to crosstown rival UCLA at home. It was the only three-set loss for the Trojans this season. The defeat left USC in sixth place in the final Pac-12 league standings. Khalia Lanier scored 33 kills (her fourth 30-plus kill match of the season) in the win over ASU and posted her ninth double-double. Raquel Lázaro logged her 20th double-double of the season in the loss to the Bruins; the 32nd of her career.

PAC-12 PRIZES: Sr. OH Khalia Lanier became the third Trojan to be chosen for All-Pac-12 honors four times (Samantha Bricio, April Ross) and just the 21st player in Pac-12 history to accomplish the feat. She was joined on the all-conference team by Sr. MB Jasmine Gross who became the Trojans' 39th All-Pac-12 selection. The duo pushed USC's program total to 77 all-time certificates awarded to 39 different Women of Troy. So. setter Raquel Lázaro received honorable mention All-Pac-12 status. OPP Emilia Weske was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team. Including all-conference selections preceding the Pac-12, Trojans now hold 100 all-league recognitions since 1977.

USC'S NCAA HISTORY: USC is 126-40 (.759) in all-time postseason matches and has a 80-33 (.708) record in the NCAA tournament. The Trojans have appeared in all but two NCAA tournaments (1986, '90) and 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 31-5 in NCAA first-round matches. The five times that USC has not advanced out of the first round were in 1983, '87, '88, '89, and 2016.

HISTORY MAKER: Sr. OH Khalia Lanier logged the first-ever 40-kill performance by a Pac-12 player in the 25-point rally-scoring era when she put up 40 in five sets against Utah (Nov. 7). It and her 42.5 points rank second all-time at USC in a single match. The 40 kills are the fifth highest by any Pac-12 player in league history and the highest since Asia Kaczor set the Pac-12 record with 45 against Washington on Nov. 16, 2007. In the biggest of footnotes, Lanier followed up that performance with 33 kills while hitting .452 (5e, 62att) against Colorado two nights later. She has had three matches with 33 kills this season, which ranks 11th all-time in school history in a single match.

FOUR TO FIVE: Sr. OH Khalia Lanier needs four kills to reach the 2,000-kill mark in her career. If (when) Lanier hits that mark, she will join an elite group of Pac-12 players to have recorded 2,000 kills and 1,000 digs in their careers. She has 1,022 career digs and would give USC two such players on a particularly exclusive list of Pac-12 greats. USC All-American Samantha Bricio is part of the group (2,095 kills/1,318 digs). Stanford's Alix Klineman (2007-10) had 2,008 kills and 1,125 digs; Arizona's Kim Glass (2002-05) had 2,151 kills and 1,158 digs. UCLA's Kristee Porter (1998-2001) finished her career with 2,255 kills and 1,119 digs.

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Players Mentioned

Jenna Adams

Brooke Botkin

Jasmine Gross

Madison Horin

Khalia Lanier

Raegan LeGrand

Kalen Owes

Emilia Weske