USC Women's Volleyball Opens Pac-12 Play with Five-Set Win Over UCLA

Wednesday, September 20

Los Angeles, Calif.

7:00 PM

USC

7-4,1-0Pac-12

UCLA

8-3,0-1Pac-12

Southern California

UCLA

Photo by: Drake Lee

USC Women's Volleyball Opens Pac-12 Play with Five-Set Win Over UCLA

September 20, 2023 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Highlights Box Score

USC freshman OH London Wijay led the Women of Troy with a career-high 24 kills

NOTE: This recap and the box score were updated on Sept. 22 following statistical changes made post-review.

LOS ANGELES – The USC women's volleyball team (7-4, 1-0 Pac-12) won its sixth straight match and defeated crosstown rival UCLA (8-3, 0-1) in five sets (23-25, 25-20, 23-25, 25-17, 17-15) to open Pac-12 play at Pauley Pavilion on Wednesday, Sept. 20.

KEY PLAYERS

Fr. OH London Wijay produced her second straight double-double and finished the night with a career-high 24 kills on .275 hitting (10e, 51att) and added 10 digs. She also had two service aces and a block to reach 26.5 points.
Sr. OH Skylar Fields added 18 kills with seven digs, a service ace, and a solo block.
Gr. setter Emily Fitzner dished out 46 assists to go with 12 digs for her seventh-career double-double (six at Indiana). She also added a career-high four service aces, three kills, and two blocks (one solo) for 8.5 points.
So. LIB Gala Trubint posted 13 digs and had six assists for her 34th-career match in double-digit digs.
Sr. MB Lindsey Miller led the team with five blocks (two) solo and added six kills, a career-high seven digs, and two service aces for 11.5 points.
For the Bruins, Iman Ndiaye led with 16 kills on .342 hitting and had a double-double with 12 digs. Desiree Becker hit .667 with 12 kills on 18 swings and had a match-high seven blocks. Peyton Dueck led all players with 16 digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

USC reached double-digit blocks (10) for the fifth time this season, but UCLA finished with 15 on the night. The Trojans had the edge in assists (57-55), service aces (11-5) and digs (65-61).
The Trojans trailed by as many as six points in the first set, 17-11, but secured the last of five ties at 23-all. Wijay racked up six of her kills in the opening set and the Trojans had five aces, but the Bruins put up seven blocks to hold USC to a .077 hitting percentage to take a 25-23 win.
USC led by as many as five and won the second set by five, 25-20, to even the match. The Trojans avoided the Bruin block and put up four blocks of their own in the frame. Wijay added four kills and Fields had five to help power a USC offense that hit .412 with 14 kills and no errors on 34 attempts.
The Bruins claimed a 25-23 win in the third to lead, 2-1, despite USC's 13-9 edge in kills. Wijay picked up six more kills but USC hit just .121 to UCLA's .208 with nine kills (4e) on 24 swings.
After 12 ties, the Women of Troy pulled away to get a 25-17 win the fourth with 13 kills on .379 hitting. UCLA had 13 kills on .267 hitting, but USC added a pair of aces including one from Wijay who pushed her total to 20 with four more kills. Fields added three and the Trojans came up with two blocks in the fourth.
The fifth was tied 13 times before the Trojans grabbed match point at 14-13. Both Fields and Wijay had four kills apiece to help USC fight off a UCLA match point at 15-14 to win, 17-15. The Trojans had 10 kills in the fifth and dug up 13 balls to complete the five-set road victory.

UP NEXT

The Women of Troy will host their first home conference match on Sunday (Sept. 24) when Oregon State (5-5, 0-0 Pac-12) visits Galen Center for first serve at 1 p.m. PT. The Trojans and the Beavers will meet for the 73rd time with a live broadcast on Pac-12 Networks and Pac-12 Oregon.

MATCH NOTES

USC defeated UCLA for the fourth straight time and improved to 64-57 in the all-time series.
The Trojans go to 35-13 all-time in conference openers, including 15-8 when they open on the road.
The Women of Troy improved to 23-13 in five-set matches against UCLA.
In all-time five-set matches, USC goes to 148-104 with a 65-51 record as the road team in five-setters. USC improves to 2-1 in five-set matches this season.

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.