USC Women's Volleyball Upends Utah for Four-Set Road Win

Sunday, October 29

Salt Lake City, Utah

11:00 AM

USC

14-8,8-4Pac-12

Utah

9-13,4-8Pac-12

Southern California

Utah

USC Women's Volleyball Upends Utah for Four-Set Road Win

October 29, 2023 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

Skylar Fields led the Women of Troy with 24 kills and 11 digs for her sixth double-double of the season

SALT LAKE CITY – The USC women's volleyball team (14-8, 8-4 Pac-12) collected a crucial conference road victory in four sets (21-25, 25-20, 26-24, 25-21) over Utah (9-12, 4-7) at Jon M. Huntsman Center on Sunday, Oct. 29.

KEY PLAYERS

Sr. OH Skylar Fields led USC with 25 kills (7e, 49att) and hit .367 to go with 11 digs and two blocks (one solo). It was Fields' 51st time in double-digit kills as a Trojan; the 30th time with 20 or more kills in a match. She now has 1,043 as a Trojan and 1,969 including kills collected at Texas. Fields also logged her sixth double-double of the season (16th of her career).
Jr. S Mia Tuaniga set the Trojans to a .238 hitting percentage (62k, 26e, 151att) and finished the day with 45 assists, eight digs, three kills, two blocks, and a service ace.
Fr. OPP Madison Pietsch got the start and had eight kills (3e, 19att) on .263 hitting to go with two blocks and two digs.
So. MB Tyrah Ariail posted seven kills (2e, 15att, .333) and shared team-high honors with four blocks (one solo) to go with two service aces and a pair of assists.
So. MB Rylie McGinest started the match and also had seven kills to go with three blocks.
So. DS/LIB Ellie Geoghegan led the team with 16 digs and saw action in all four sets.
So. DS/LIB Gala Trubint had 15 digs for her 15th match in double-digit digs. She also had three assists and two aces.
Fr. OH London Wijay posted six kills and had seven digs and a solo block.
For the Utes, Lauren Jardine led with 14 kills. Kamryn Gibadlo picked up 13 kills and had two service aces. Viktoria Wahlgren posted 46 assists to go with five blocks and four service aces. Emrie Satuala had 11 kills and a match-high eight blocks (two solo). Allie Olsen had seven blocks and added nine kills for Utah.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Women of Troy out-hit the Utes, .238 to .228, and had more kills (62-54), digs (64-54), and assists (51-47). Utah had a big edge in blocks, 17.5 to 9.0, and recorded seven aces to the Trojans' six.
Fields had seven of her kills in the opening set and McGinest came out hot with four kills. The Trojans out-dug the Utes, 18-12, in set one, but Utah used four blocks and four service aces to get a 25-21 win after trailing, 21-20.
The Trojans led by as many as eight points in the second set (21-13) and put up six blocks and two aces to help close out a 25-20 win to even the match. USC had 12 kills and hit .152 but held Utah to 11 kills and .062 hitting.
USC picked up four more blocks in the third set and fought through 12 ties and four lead changes to get a 26-24 win for a 2-1 lead in the match. Fields and Jardine both had five kills, but Utah scored 23.5 points with 19 kills on the board. Pietsch added four kills and Trubint served both of her aces to help the Trojans close out the win. USC initially led, 18-16, but Utah scored a 6-0 run to lead, 22-20. The Trojans responded with a 4-0 run of their own and made it 8-2 to end the set.
After three early ties, USC blew the fourth set open thanks to 10 kills from Fields. Up, 17-10, the Trojans held off a late Utah comeback and sewed up the win with a 25-21 result in set four. OH Dani Thomas-Nathan came off the bench and provided the Trojans with six kills including the final kill of the match.

UP NEXT

The Women of Troy return home to host Arizona on Friday (Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. PT) and Arizona State on Sunday (Nov. 5 at 2 p.m.) at Galen Center to open the month of November. The USC-Arizona match will be shown on a live stream and the Trojans-Sun Devils match-up will be carried live by Pac-12 Networks.

MATCH NOTES

USC improved to 21-11 all-time against Utah and has won three of the last four over the Utes. The Trojans go to 9-6 as the road team in the all-time series and get their first win in Salt Lake City since 2017; the first for head coach Brad Keller.
The Women of Troy sweep the regular-season series against the Utes for the first time since 2017.
USC goes to 30-8 all-time in the state of Utah and ends a streak of five straight losses in the Beehive State.
The Trojans reached double-digit blocks for the ninth time this season.
USC had more kills than their opponent for the 16th time and more digs for the 14th time this fall.

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, X, and Instagram.