USC Women’s Volleyball Falls to No. 19 UCLA in Pac-12 Opener

Wednesday, September 22

Los Angeles, Calif.

7:00 PM

USC

4-6,0-1Pac-12

UCLA

8-1,1-0Pac-12

Southern California

UCLA

Photo by: Jenny Chuang

USC Women’s Volleyball Falls to No. 19 UCLA in Pac-12 Opener

September 22, 2021 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

The Trojans were led by an 18-kill performance from OH Brooke Botkin

LOS ANGELES – The USC women's volleyball team (4-6, 0-1 Pac-12) fell in four sets (25-21, 25-20, 21-25, 25-14) to No. 19-ranked crosstown rival UCLA (8-1, 1-0) at Pauley Pavilion on Wednesday, Sept. 22.

KEY PLAYERS

Gr. OH Brooke Botkin led the Women of Troy with 18 kills (7e, 544att, .250) and added nine digs.
Jr. OPP Emilia Weske added 10 kills (5e, 33att, .152) and had two blocks.
In her return to Pauley Pavilion Gr. MB Sabrina Smith finished with seven kills (1e, 20att, .300) and had three blocks.
Gr. LIB Shannon Scully dug up 12 balls and posted six assists.
For UCLA, Charitie Luper led all players with 19 kills (3e, 39att, .410). Shelby Martin had the double-double with 45 assists and 12 digs. Zoe Fleck led all players with a match-high 13 digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

UCLA never trailed in the opening frame and out-hit the Trojans .323 to .257 in a 25-21 win despite a late push by USC to make it a close match. While set two began in a tug-of-war, USC came within two at 21-19, before UCLA ran away to snag a 2-0 lead in the contest on a 25-20 win.
USC turned the tables in set three and served up five aces with three from Gr. MB Candice Denny. The Trojans hit .290 and had 12 kills on 31 swings for a 25-21 win.
The Bruins were relentless in the fourth frame and led by as many as 11 down the stretch before ending a 25-14 win. UCLA hit .367 in the fourth and held USC to as .000 outing with 10 kills and 10 errors.

UP NEXT

The Women of Troy head to the East Bay to face California (7-5, 0-1 Pac-12) at Haas Pavilion on Sunday (Sept. 26) at 2 p.m. PT in Berkeley, Calif. The match will be shown live on Pac-12 Networks.

MATCH NOTES

USC fell to 60-57 all-time against UCLA and to 24-25 as the road team in the series.
The Women of Troy had their four-match conference winning streak snapped.

For more information on the USC women's volleyball team and a complete schedule and results, please visit USCTrojans.com/WVB. Fans of the Women of Troy can follow @USCWomensVolley on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.