USC Women's Volleyball Drops Narrow Five-Set Decision to Creighton

Friday, September 3

Lexington, Ky.

2:00 PM

USC

2-2,0-0Pac-12

Creighton

4-0,0-0Big East

Southern California

Creighton

Photo by: John McGillen / USC Athletics

USC Women's Volleyball Drops Narrow Five-Set Decision to Creighton

September 03, 2021 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

The Women of Troy fought back to push for a fifth set but fell to the Bluejays in their second match at the Bluegrass Battle

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The USC women's volleyball team (3-2) fell just short of completing the comeback in a five-set loss (25-19, 25-21, 18-25, 19-25, 15-13) to Creighton (4-0) in the second match of the Bluegrass Battle at Memorial Coliseum on Friday, Sept. 3.

KEY PLAYERS

Gr. OH Brooke Botkin led all players with 24 kills (7e, 52att) as she hit .327 and added eight digs. It was a season high for Botkin and just four kills shy of matching her career high of 28 kills (Sept. 8, 2018).
Sr. OH Brooklyn Schirmer put up eight kills (4e, 25att, .160) and had six digs and two of the Trojans' seven service aces.
Fr. setter Mia Tuaniga posted a career-high 28 assists to go with nine digs, four kills, and a block.
In her fifth straight match in double-digit digs, Gr. LIB Shannon Scully put up 19 digs with two service aces.
For Creighton, Norah Sis led with 20 kills (4e, 52att, .308) and added seven digs. Jaela Zimmerman had 16 kills (10e, 46att) with 16 digs. Kendra Wait set CU to a .293 hitting percentage and finished with 49 assists, nine kills, and eight digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Trojans struggled in the opening set and fell behind by as many as six points. USC fought to get within a point at 15-14, but Creighton stepped up to complete a 25-19 first-set win.
More of the same in the second saw the Bluejays fly out to a 12-7 lead quickly. USC closed the gap to one point several times but stalled at 21 as CU's 4-1 run sealed a 25-21 win and a 2-0 Creighton lead in the match.
USC came out a different team after the break and doubled up the Bluejays at 10-5. USC pushed out to a seven-point lead at 21-14 and got five kills from Botkin to deal CU its first set loss of the season on a 25-18 win in the third.
Botkin racked up eight more kills in the fourth set and turned the tables on a 13-12 Creighton lead with a big 7-0 run. The Women of Troy went ahead by seven at 23-16 and held on to take a 25-19 win to force set five.
The teams traded points until USC came up with three straight for a 6-4 lead. The Trojans pushed out to three-point leads several times including at 8-5 and 13-10, but Creighton stiffened up to score a 5-0 burst for the 15-13 win.

UP NEXT

The Women of Troy return to the court at Memorial Coliseum tomorrow (Saturday, Sept. 4) to take on No. 3-ranked and defending NCAA champion Kentucky (3-0) at 7:30 p.m. ET (4:30 p.m. PT) in the final match of the Bluegrass Battle. The meeting—eighth all-time between the programs—will be shown live on SEC Network+.

MATCH NOTES

USC fell to 6-2 all-time against Creighton and lost its second straight to the Bluejays after a 6-0 series start.
The Trojans dropped to 6-1 all-time in the Bluegrass State.

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.