USC Women's Volleyball Derails Boilers in 3-1 Win Over No. 17 Purdue

Friday, September 15

West Lafayette, Ind.

5:00 PM

USC

6-4,0-0Pac-12

Purdue

6-3,0-0Big Ten

Southern California

Purdue

USC Women's Volleyball Derails Boilers in 3-1 Win Over No. 17 Purdue

September 15, 2023 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

Tournament MVP Skylar Fields scored 29 points in the Trojans’ fifth straight victory

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The USC women's volleyball team (6-4) defeated No. 17 Purdue (6-3) in four sets (30-28, 15-25, 25-23, 25-23) to win the Boilermaker Challenge at Holloway Gymnasium on Friday, Sept. 15. Sr. OH Skylar Fields was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player and was joined on the all-tournament team by So. LIB Gala Trubint. The Trojans conclude the non-conference portion of their schedule on a five-match win streak and open Pac-12 play on Wednesday at UCLA.

KEY PLAYERS

Sr. OH Skylar Fields led all players with 29.0 points scored on 27 kills (7e, 62att) and .323 hitting to go with 12 digs for her second double-double of the season (12th career). Fields also had three blocks including the solo block that sealed the final point of the fourth set for the victory.
So. MB Tyrah Ariail posted a career-high 15 kills (1e) on 18 attacks. Her .778 hitting percentage was both a career high and the highest single-match mark by a Trojan since 2001 when All-American MB Katie Olsovsky hit .778 against Cal (Nov. 9) with 14 kills (0e, 18att). The two are now tied for the second highest single-match percentage in school history.
Fr. OH London Wijay started the match and lit up the scoresheet with career marks. She finished with 18 kills (7e, 42att) and .262 hitting with 12 digs for her first-career double-double. She also added three assists, a block, and a service ace.
Gr. setter Emily Fitzner played in relief of Jr. Mia Tuaniga and finished the night with 30 assists and nine digs to guide the Trojans to the win. Tuaniga had 24 assists, five digs, and a service ace before exiting the match.
So. LIB Gala Trubint posted 12 digs and had six assists for her 33rd-career match in double-digit digs.
Sr. MB Lindsey Miller had five kills (0e, 14att) to hit .357 and scored on three service aces and two blocks.
For Purdue, Eva Hudson (.300) and Chloe Chicoine (.342) led the way with 17 kills each. Chicoine had 10 digs for the double-double and added two service aces. Maddie Schermerhorn led all players with 22 digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Trojans scored 81.0 points and had 69 kills while hitting .333 to outpace the Boilermaker attack, which hit .300 with 55 kills on the night. USC also had the edge in digs, 61-58, and assists, 64-50.
USC led by as many as four points in the opening frame and finished hitting .488 with 22 kills (1e) on 43 swings for a 30-28 win. Fields racked up 11 of her kills in the first set and the Trojans scored four aces to overcome seven service errors and three set points in a furious Boilermaker comeback.
Purdue was unrelenting in the second set on .556 hitting with 16 kills and evened the match with a 25-15 win despite USC's .346 hitting. The Trojans had 11 kills (2e, 26att) but could never close the gap in set two.
After trailing by as many as four points, 16-12, in the third, the Trojans used the biggest of 3-0 runs to close out a 25-23 win to take a 2-1 lead in the match. USC collected 19 kills in the frame and hit .256 in the process. Fields had nine more kills and Wijay picked up six in the set.
Wijay racked up seven kills in the fourth set and Fields had five to go with the only USC block of the set to end the match, 25-23. The Trojans had 17 kills and .250 to weather 14 tie scores and six lead changes. Purdue had four blocks and served two aces and had its last lead at 21-20 before USC locked down the win.

UP NEXT

The Women of Troy open Pac-12 play with a crosstown rivalry matchup at UCLA on Wednesday (Sept. 20) at 7 p.m. PT. The teams will meet for the 121st time when they play at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom and will be shown live on Pac-12 Networks.

MATCH NOTES

USC improved to 6-0 all-time against Purdue and to 3-0 as the road team in the series.
Today's match marked the third time that USC and Purdue have played on Sept. 15. Previously, the teams met on the same date in 2006 and 2007.
The Trojans improved to 11-1 all-time in the state of Indiana.

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.