USC Women's Volleyball's Skylar Fields and Mia Tuaniga Named to Preseason All-Pac-12 Team

SAN FRANCISCO – USC women's volleyball senior outside hitter Skylar Fields (Missouri City, Texas) and junior setter Mia Tuaniga (Long Beach, Calif.) were named to the 2023 Pac-12 Preseason All-Conference Team on Monday, Aug. 21.

As a team, the 22nd-ranked Trojans were chosen to finish in fourth place in the Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll announced separately on Friday, Aug. 18. USC—winner of five Pac-12 championships (2000, '02, '03, '11, '15) will play its final season in the conference—after it was announced (July 2022) that both USC and UCLA would move to the Big Ten Conference in 2024.

USC is one of four teams with multiple student-athletes on the Pac-12 preseason all-conference team. Stanford led all teams with six selections. Washington State had three players voted to the team followed by USC and Oregon with two apiece. Arizona State and UCLA each had one player on the team to comprise the 15-player preseason team. Typically, the team is made up of 14 selections, but a tie for the 14th spot allowed for a 15th player to be named to the group.

Fields was an AVCA All-America first-team choice in 2022 when she led the Pac-12 in kills (598), kills per set (5.11 kps), points (650.0), and points per set (5.56 pps). In her first year with the Trojans, following two seasons at Texas, Fields earned a spot on the Pac-12 All-Conference Team and was chosen as the Pac-12's Offensive Player of the Week four times. Fields also earned all-tournament recognition in two non-conference tourneys as was also a member of the Pac-12 Preseason All-Conference Team a year ago.

Tuaniga led the Pac-12 in service aces (0.49 saps) in 2022 and ranked second with 1,308 total assists as a sophomore. She totaled 58 aces on the season, which ranks sixth in school history behind only marks set by Samantha Bricio, April Ross, and Nancy Hillman. Tuaniga did however set the USC single-match record with 10 service aces in a four-set win over Colorado on Sept. 30. She posted seven matches in double-digit digs and added seven more double-double matches to her career total (15).

The Trojans open on the road at No. 19 Houston (Aug. 25) and No. 23 Rice (Aug. 26). USC will play its first home matches as host of the Trojan Invitational at Galen Center (Sept. 8-10) when UC Davis, Marist, and No. 13 San Diego come to visit. The Women of Troy trek into Big Ten territory to face Illinois and No. 16 Purdue for the Boilermaker Challenge (Sept. 14-15), and then open their final season of Pac-12 play with a meeting against crosstown rival UCLA on Sept. 20. The Trojans will appear in Pac-12 Networks broadcasts 10 times this fall.

2023 PRESEASON ALL-PAC-12 TEAM
Caitie Baird, Stanford
Mimi Colyer, Oregon
Anna Dodson, UCLA
Skylar Fields, USC
Sami Francis, Stanford
Iman Isanovic, Washington State
Magda Jehlarova, Washington State
Kendall Kipp, Stanford
Marta Levinska, Arizona State
Kami Miner, Stanford
Elena Oglivie, Stanford
Hannah Pukis, Oregon
Elia Rubin, Stanford
Pia Timmer, Washington State
Mia Tuaniga, USC
*15-member preseason team due to tie in voting

Under fourth-year head coach Brad Keller, USC (22-11) finished fourth in the Pac-12 standings (13-7) in 2022 and was awarded one of 32 at-large berths into the NCAA tournament. The Women of Troy defeated High Point in the first round of the tourney but were eliminated by 10th-ranked site host Ohio State. It was the first NCAA tournament victory for Keller and the program's first appearance in the tourney since 2019. Outside hitter Skylar Fields was named to the AVCA All-America first team.

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

Players Mentioned

Skylar Fields

Mia Tuaniga