USC Women's Volleyball Hosts Trojan Invitational For First Home Contests

LOS ANGELES – The USC women's volleyball team (1-4) will play its first home matches this weekend (Sept. 8-10) at Galen Center after opening the season with five straight road contests, which included 7,900 miles through the air. The Women of Troy will host UC Davis (3-3), Marist (2-4), and San Diego (1-4), across three days in the Trojan Invitational and look to get onto the winning foot within the friendly confines of their home arena.

USC is 38-9 in home openers (11-5 at Galen Center) and gets started with the Aggies on Friday (Sept. 8) at 7 p.m. PT. The matchup is the Trojans' Gold Out at Galen night. Fans are encouraged to wear gold to the match. Kids 18 and under receive complimentary admission with a valid school ID and all adult tickets are $5. A special commemorative gold tumbler cup is also available as part of a $15 ticket promotion package.

2023 TROJAN INVITATIONAL
Galen Center • Los Angeles, Calif.

MATCH #6 • Friday, Sept. 8 • 7 p.m. PT
   USC (1-4) vs. UC Davis (3-3)
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 1-0 (1.000)
LAST MEETING: W 2-0 (Nov. 24, 1977 • Long Beach, Calif.)
STREAK: Won 1 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 1-0
TV/STREAM: USC Live Stream (Max Kelton)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: UCDavisAggies.com

MATCH #7 • Saturday, Sept. 9 • 1 p.m. PT
   USC (1-4) vs. Marist (2-4)
SERIES RECORD: First meeting
TV/STREAM: USC Live Stream (Max Kelton)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: GoRedFoxes.com

MATCH #8 • Sunday, Sept. 10 • 2 p.m. PT
   USC (1-4) vs. San Diego (1-4)
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 12-4 (.750)
LAST MEETING: L 3-2 (Sept. 17, 2021 • Galen Center)
STREAK: Lost 3 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 6-4
TV: Pac-12 LA (Anne Marie Anderson)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: USDToreros.com

FIRST SERVE (TL;DR)

USC is led by fourth-year head coach Brad Keller who has the unique experience of having also served as an assistant coach for the USC men. Keller is 45-38 (.542) at Troy.
The Trojans play seven of their 10 non-conference matches on the road and have flown 7,900 miles through the air to play their first five.
USC is 38-9 all-time in home openers, which includes an 11-5 mark at Galen Center. Overall, the Trojans are 193-54 (.781) at Galen Center since the arena opened in 2006 and went 14-2 at home in 2022.
Sr. OH Skylar Fields has racked up five matches in double-digit kills to pick up where she left off in 2022 when she was chosen for AVCA All-America first-team honors. She leads the Pac-12 at 5.11 kills per set.

LAST TIME OUT: USC fought it out with the Rainbow Wahine but fell to Hawai'i in back-to-back matches at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. The Trojans pushed the first meeting to five sets and got career-performances from several Women of Troy including OH Skylar Fields who had 26 kills on 80 swings, MB Lindsey Miller who had 11 blocks, and DS Megan Verbiest who had 13 digs. In a tightly-contested four-set loss, USC fell to Hawai'i in the rematch but saw the emergence of OPP Madison Pietsch who had 10 kills and eight digs in just three sets of action. The losses marked the first time in three years that one team won both meetings on the islands. USC made the same trip to Honolulu in 2022 and 2021 but the teams each split matches both previous years.

HOME, SWEET HOME: USC is 193-54 (.781) all-time at Galen Center. The Trojans went 12-1 in home matches in 2011 and completed the 2012 home schedule with a 17-1 mark. In 2007, USC was 19-0 at home on the way to an appearance in the NCAA national semifinal match. The Trojans are 20-4 all-time at Galen Center in NCAA tournament matches. The four losses were to Hawai'i (2008 and 2009) and San Diego (2018) each time in the second round; and to Washington in the 2013 NCAA Regional Final.

OUR HOUSE: The Trojans are 38-9 in home openers and are 11-5 in first home contests at Galen Center since 2006 when the arena first opened. Last year, USC started the season at home and got a 3-0 win over Colgate. The Women of Troy finished the season with a 14-2 home record in 2022.

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW: USC and San Diego meet for the 17th time this weekend. The Trojans are 12-4 all-time against the Toreros but have dropped the last three matches with USD. The last two times the teams have met, San Diego has come away with five-set victories including a 3-2 win at Galen Center in 2021. The Trojans and UC Davis will play for only the second time but for the first time since 1977. USC and Marist will play each other for the first time.

PAC-12 EARLY RETURNS: Sr. OH Skylar Fields and Jr. setter Mia Tuaniga were each chosen to the Pac-12 Preseason All-Conference Team. Both were All-Pac-12 selections to end the 2022 season. Fields later earned AVCA All-America first-team laurels. Tuaniga received All-America honorable mention. In a poll of the league's head coaches, the Trojans were picked to finish in fourth place.

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Players Mentioned

Skylar Fields

Lindsey Miller

Madison Pietsch

Mia Tuaniga

Megan Verbiest