USC Women's Volleyball Falls to Hawai’i in Tightly Contested Rematch

Saturday, September 2

Honolulu, Hawaii

10:00 PM

USC

1-4,0-0Pac-12

Hawai'i

4-1,0-0Big West

Southern California

Hawaii

Photo by: Jenny Chuang

USC Women's Volleyball Falls to Hawai’i in Tightly Contested Rematch

September 03, 2023 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

The Women of Troy were led by a 22-kill performance from OH Skylar Fields

HONOLULU – The USC women's volleyball team (1-4) dropped a four-set decision (27-25, 23-25, 25-18, 25-23) in a rematch with Hawai'i (4-1), at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center on Saturday, Sept. 2.

KEY PLAYERS

Sr. OH Skylar Fields led all players with 24.0 points as she racked up 22 kills (5e, 56att) for a .304 hitting percentage, and added five digs, three blocks (one solo), and an assist.
Jr. setter Mia Tuaniga put up 38 assists to guide USC to a .307 hitting rate and matched her career high with five kills (0e, 8att, .625) to go with four digs and three blocks.
Fr. OPP Madison Pietsch reached double digits for the first time and finished with 10.5 points earned on 10 kills (2e, 18att) with .444 hitting and racked up a season and career-high eight digs to go with one block.
Gr. DS Ellie Snook reached double-digit digs for the fourth time and finished with 10 digs and three assists.
Sr. MB Lindsey Miller had a match-high six blocks (one solo) to go with five kills, two digs, and a service ace.
So. LIB Gala Trubint put up 12 digs with five assists and two aces. It was Trubint's 28th-career match in double-digit digs.
For Hawai'i, Amber Igiede led four Rainbow Wahine in double-digit kills with 15 (1e, 23att) and did it on .609 hitting to go with six digs, three aces, and two blocks. Igiede registered her 1,000th-career kill during the fourth set of the match. Tali Hakas had 11 kills and 13 digs, and Kate Lang had 47 assists with 13 digs to each register double-doubles. Caylen Alexander posted 14 kills with seven digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Trojans out-hit the Wahine for the second time in two meetings (.307 to .279) and reached double-digit blocks for the first time this season with 11.0 to outpace UH's 6.0 blocks. Six different Wahine had service aces to total 14 as UH had a 26-12 edge in points won in the serve-and-pass game.
The teams went back-and-forth through the first set for 14 ties and six lead changes. The Trojans overcame a four-point hole to lead as late in the set as 22-21, but Hawai'i came up with the 27-25 win on an ace by Igiede. USC hit .343 in the opening frame and had six of its blocks. Fields put in seven of her kills without an error (13att) to hit .538 herself.
It took another 11 ties to determine a winner in set two, but the Trojans emerged the victor with a 25-23 win. USC held its largest lead at 17-13 had reached set point at 24-22. Fields added five more kills while Miller had four of her kills in the second set. USC hit .294 with 16 kills to top UH's .219 hitting with 12 kills.
The Wahine took charge early in the third set and rolled out to a five-point lead at 8-3 on an ace from Riley Wagoner. UH led by as many as eight points and finished with a seven-point margin for a 25-18 win to lead, 2-1, in the match. Both teams had 11 kills each, but the difference came at the service line where UH had a 6-0 margin in aces and finished with a 16-10 edge in digs to keep the Trojans at bay.
UH carried momentum into the fourth and ripped open another eight-point lead at 15-7, but the Trojans never wavered as they fought all the way back to even the score at 17-all. The Wahine went ahead by two, 22-20, and USC was never able to pull even as UH closed out a 25-23 win to take the match. Fields poured in seven more kills on 16 swings (.438) and Pietsch put up four kills and added three digs. Fr. OH London Wijay came off the bench to provide three kills on seven swings (.429) as USC out-hit Hawai'i, .378 to .351, in the final frame.

UP NEXT

After five road matches and 7,900 miles through the air, USC returns home to host the Trojan Invitational at Galen Center this weekend (Sept. 8-10). The Women of Troy face UC Davis in their home opener at 7 p.m. PT on Friday (Sept. 8). It is Gold Out at Galen night. A special $15 ticket package is available featuring a commemorative gold tumbler cup and adult tickets are available for $5 with free admission for kids 18 and under with valid school ID. All fans are encouraged to wear gold to the match. Marist and San Diego will also play in a full round-robin of matches in the invitational. The Trojans and Toreros will appear on Pac-12 Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon (Sept. 10) at 2 p.m. while the other five matches will be streamed live on the USC Live Stream platform. Please visit USCTrojans.com for a full schedule.

MATCH NOTES

USC fell to 20-26 against Hawai'i in the 46th meeting of the Trojans and Wahine. The Women of Troy also go to 15-15 against UH when the teams play in Honolulu.
The Trojans fall to 24-16 in all matches played in the state of Hawai'i.
USC and Hawai'i have met in a two-match series in each of the last three seasons, but this was the first time one team won both matches. The teams split meetings in both 2021 and 2022.

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.