USC Women's Volleyball Pounces on Panthers to Complete 3-0 Sweep

Friday, September 3

Lexington, Ky.

7:30 AM

USC

3-1

Northern Iowa

2-2

Northern Iowa

USC

Photo by: Jenny Chuang

USC Women's Volleyball Pounces on Panthers to Complete 3-0 Sweep

September 03, 2021 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

The Women of Troy extended their set win streak to nine with a victory over Northern Iowa at the Bluegrass Battle

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The USC women's volleyball team (3-1) completed a 3-0 sweep (26-24, 25-21, 25-12) of Northern Iowa (2-2) to open the weekend at the Bluegrass Battle at Memorial Coliseum on Friday, Sept. 3. The Trojans extended their win streak to three matches and nine consecutive sets.

KEY PLAYERS

Sr. setter Raquel Lázaro recorded the first USC double-double of the season (40th of her career) with 23 assists and 11 digs to go with three kills (1e, 9att, .222), three blocks, and a service ace.
Gr. OH Brooke Botkin led the Trojans with nine kills (3e, 29att, .207) and had seven digs and two blocks.
Sr. OH Brooklyn Schirmer racked up seven kills (3e, 18att, .222) with four digs and a service ace.
Off the bench, Fr. setter Mia Tuaniga served four aces and had four assists and two digs.
For UNI, Tayler Alden and Kaylissa Arndorfer each had seven kills and Kaylee Donner led the Panthers with nine digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The teams went back and forth in the opening set, and USC trailed by as many as three points early on before forcing a tie at 23-all. UNI claimed the next point, but a 3-0 run by the Trojans closed out the 26-24 win.
Tuaniga served three straight aces and finished with four in the second frame to help the Trojans flip the scoreboard for an 11-7 lead. USC broke open a lead as large as eight points at 21-13, but the Panthers fought back to close within three at 24-21 before a UNI error gave the Trojans a 2-0 lead in the match.
USC came out firing in the third for an 8-1 lead and later produced a second 8-1 run to take match point at 24-10. UNI saved two match points before Lázaro's joust winner completed the 3-0 sweep for the Women of Troy on a 25-12 victory.

UP NEXT

The Women of Troy also play in the second match at the Bluegrass Battle and take on Creighton (3-0) at 5 p.m. ET (2 p.m. PT). The match-up will be shown live on ESPN+.

MATCH NOTES

USC improved to 8-1 all-time against Northern Iowa and won its third straight match over the Panthers.
The Trojans improved to 6-0 all-time in the Bluegrass State.
The Women of Troy recorded three straight 3-0 victories for the first time since 2018 (Sept. 14-19) with wins over Louisiana, San Diego, and UCLA.
USC's nine-set win streak is the team's longest since winning 13 straight between Sept. 8-23 in 2018.

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.