No. 21 USC Women's Volleyball Haunts Pauley Pavilion Halloween Night

LOS ANGELES – The No. 21-ranked USC women's volleyball team (14-6, 6-4 Big Ten) heads down the 10 Freeway to take on crosstown rival UCLA (10-9, 4-6) on Halloween Night, Thursday (Oct. 31) for a 6:30 p.m. meeting that will be shown live on Big Ten Network. The Women of Troy have won six of their last eight against the Bruins including a five-set victory at Galen Center two weeks ago (Oct. 13). Sunday, USC welcomes Washington (16-4, 6-4) to Galen Center for a 1 p.m. PT matchup that will be streamed live on Big Ten Plus.

THIS WEEK
MATCH #21 • Thursday, Oct. 31 • 6:30 p.m. PT
No. 21 USC (14-6, 6-4) at UCLA (10-9, 4-6)
Pauley Pavilion • Los Angeles, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 65-58 (.528)
LAST MEETING: W 3-2 (Oct. 13, 2024 • Galen Center)
STREAK: Won 1 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 6-4
TV: Big Ten Network (Paul Sunderland & Holly McPeak)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: UCLABruins.com

MATCH #22 • Sunday, Nov. 3 • 1 p.m. PT
No. 21 USC (14-6, 6-4) vs. Washington (16-4, 6-4)
Galen Center • Los Angeles, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 45-33 (.577)
LAST MEETING: W 3-0 (Nov. 10, 2023 • Seattle, Wash.)
STREAK: Won 2 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 4-6
TV/STREAM: Big Ten Plus (Scott Hills & Lily Coleman)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: GoHuskies.com

FIRST SERVE (TL;DR)

USC is led by fifth-year head coach Brad Keller who has the unique experience of having coached both men's and women's programs at both USC and UCLA. Overall, Keller is 77-59 (.592) as the Trojans' head coach.
USC assoc. head coach Spencer McLachlin was an assistant for the UCLA men (2018-21). Trojan asst. coach Megan Moenoa was a setter for the Bruins (2011-14) and won the 2011 NCAA championship. USC tech coordinator Virginia Pham is a 2015 UCLA grad and served as a student assistant for the Bruins' men's, women's, and beach volleyball programs from 2012-15. UCLA asst. coach Stevi Robinson-Trail was an All-American for USC beach.
Sr. S Mia Tuaniga has started as the Trojans' setter for each of the last three seasons and has 4,081 career assists to rank fourth in school history.
Gr. OH Ally Batenhorst ranks ninth in the Big Ten for kills (3.77 kps) and is seventh in the league for points (4.51 pps).
Sr. MB Tyrah Ariail is fifth in the Big Ten in blocks (1.28 bps). USC ranks second in the conference (5th in the NCAA) for blocks at 2.97 bps.

LAST TIME OUT: USC had a nine-match home win streak snapped in a stunning five-set loss to Michigan State and then went toe-to-toe with third-ranked Penn State before the Lions pulled out a 3-1 win. The Trojans fell to 9-3 at home and suffered back-to-back losses for the first time this season. Mia Tuaniga put up 43 assists and had 11 digs against Penn State for her sixth double-double of the season. Jadyn Livings had 14 kills and 11 digs in the match with the Spartans for her third double-double. Ally Batenhorst scored a career-high 26.0 points and had a career-best 23 kills against Michigan State.

AGREE TO DISAGREE: The Women of Troy lead the all-time series with rival UCLA by a 65-58 margin. Ask someone in blue and gold and they'll tell you otherwise. The Bruins claim to lead the series, 69-65, but how? UCLA's program, which started in 1972, is several years older than the one at USC, which began in 1976. The Bruins earned a handful of victories over the Trojans before the Women of Troy officially started a varsity program. In those four seasons, the Bruins racked up 11 wins against USC's club team, which are included in UCLA's all-time record.

CROSSTOWN CONNECTIONS: USC head coach Brad Keller has the unique distinction of having coached both the men's and women's volleyball programs at both USC and UCLA. Prior to his arrival at USC, he served one season (2019) as UCLA's associate head coach. The Trojans' associate head coach Spencer McLachlinalso has UCLA ties having served as an assistant coach for the Bruin men (alongside Keller in his first season) for three years (2018-21). Assistant coach Megan Moenoa was a standout setter for the Bruin women and helped UCLA capture the 2011 NCAA championship. She graduated from UCLA in 2015. USC technical coordinator Virginia Pham also graduated from UCLA in 2015—with a bachelor's degree in computer science—and served three seasons as a student assistant for several of the Bruins' volleyball programs. First-year UCLA assistant coach Stevi Robinson-Trail was a 2013 AVCA All-American with the USC beach volleyball program. She won the AVCA's individual national championship with partner Kirby Burnham in her only season at Troy.

DAWG WALKERS: USC leads Washington 45-33 all-time but has had little luck when it has played the Huskies in Seattle. The Trojans are 18-20 as the road team and are just 4-15 since 2005 when the Huskies won the NCAA championship. After winning eight straight road matches over UW between 1996-2004, USC has won just four times (2011, '18, '19, '23) in 19 matches at Hec Ed. At home, the Trojans are a far more palatable 25-12 against Washington.

ONCE AROUND THE BLOCK: The Trojans' 2.97 blocks per set ranks second in the Big Ten and rank fifth nationally. In 20 matches, USC has reached double-digit blocks 13 times including season-highs of 19.5 blocks twice; vs. Kansas State (Sept. 6), vs. Loyola Marymount (Sept. 19).

AVCA POLL POSITION: The Trojans opened the 2024 season ranked No. 21 in the AVCA coaches' poll. Overall, USC has appeared in the coaches' poll 536 times, which ranks sixth all-time. The Women of Troy have held a spot among the poll's top 10 teams 317 times, which ranks eighth all-time, and the Trojans have held the No. 1 ranking 47 times for seventh all-time. Since 1982—the year of the poll's inception—USC has appeared in the final poll 34 of 41 times with 18 finishes in the top 10; 12 in the top five, and twice as the No. 1-ranked team (2002, '03).

HOME, SWEET HOME: USC is 213-59 (.783) all-time at Galen Center. The Trojans were 11-2 at home a year ago. USC 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.

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Players Mentioned

Tyrah Ariail

Ally Batenhorst

Jadyn Livings

Mia Tuaniga