No. 16 USC Women's Volleyball Meets Familiar Foes in Big Ten Bouts

LOS ANGELES – The 16th-ranked USC women's volleyball team (11-3, 3-1 Big Ten) heads to the Beaver State to take on No. 11 Oregon (11-2, 3-1) for a midweek matchup on Wednesday (Oct. 9) at 6 p.m. PT at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Ore. The Women of Troy then return home to host crosstown rival UCLA (7-6, 1-3) at Galen Center on Sunday (Oct. 13) in a 4:30 p.m. PT bout. Both of USC's matches this week will be carried live by the Big Ten Network.

THIS WEEK
MATCH #15 • Wednesday, Oct. 9 • 6 p.m. PT
No. 16 USC (11-3, 3-1) at No. 11 Oregon (11-2, 3-1)
Matthew Knight Arena • Eugene, Ore.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 56-20 (.737)
LAST MEETING: L 3-1 (Nov. 21, 2023 • Eugene, Ore.)
STREAK: Lost 2 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 3-7
TV: Big Ten Network (Elise Woodward & Nicole Branagh)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: GoDucks.com

MATCH #16 • Sunday, Oct. 13 • 4:30 p.m. PT
No. 16 USC (11-3, 3-1) vs. UCLA (7-6, 1-3)
Galen Center • Los Angeles, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 64-58 (.525)
LAST MEETING: L 3-2 (Nov. 24, 2023 • Galen Center)
STREAK: Lost 1 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 5-5
TV: Big Ten Network (Paul Sunderland & Nicole Branagh)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: UCLABruins.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 74-50 (.597) as the Trojans' head coach.
The Women of Troy have won eight of their last nine matches.
The Trojans are 212-57 all-time at Galen Center (.788).
USC is 58-15 all-time in the state of Oregon and has won 16 of its last 20.
Sr. S Mia Tuaniga has started as the Trojans' setter for each of the last three seasons and has 3,854 career assists to rank fourth in school history. She was selected to the Big Ten Preseason All-Conference Team.
Jr. LIB Gala Trubint has logged 57 career matches in double-digit digs and has 15-career matches with 20-plus digs.
Gr. OH Ally Batenhorst ranks seventh in the Big Ten for kills (3.87 kps) and is sixth in the league for points (4.62 pps).
Sr. MB Tyrah Ariail is sixth in the Big Ten in blocks (1.33 bps). USC ranks second in the conference (5th in the NCAA) for blocks at 3.03 bps.

LAST TIME OUT: USC pushed its home win streak to eight matches with wins over Michigan and 12th-ranked Minnesota. It took five sets—and what some call a reverse sweep—to defeat the Wolverines, but the Trojans dominated sets three and four against the Gophers to move to 3-1 in the Big Ten and into a six-way tie for third place in the early conference standings. Gala Trubint posted her 56th and 57th career matches in double digit digs while Ally Batenhorst continued her hot streak with her 13th and 14th straight matches in double-digit kills. Batenhorst set new career highs with 20 kills and 62 attacks against Michigan and had a set where she logged nine kills. Leah Ford started against the Gophers and posted a career-best nine blocks while Grae Gosnell came in and put up 10 digs against for her sixth match in double-digit digs this season. Adonia Faumuina had back-to-back double-digit kills matches while hitting over .225 in each contest. Jadyn Livings moved to the right and collected 13 kills on .500 hitting against the Gophers. Mia Tuaniga matched her season high with 48 assists in the win over Minnesota and set the Trojans to a .320 hitting rate.

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 533 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 212-57 (.788) 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.

PLUCKY DUCKS: Since 2019, USC and Oregon have played five-set matches six times, and all six have gone the Ducks' way; four times at Galen Center and twice in Eugene. Prior to the recent plethora of marathon matches with Oregon, USC owned a dominant 55-13 all-time record in the head-to-head history. The Trojans are now 56-20 against the Ducks (6-6 in five-setters) including a 28-8 mark in Eugene. From Oct. 26, 1990, to Oct. 12, 2007, the Women of Troy won 34 consecutive matches over the Ducks.

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 McLachlin also 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.

AGREE TO DISAGREE: The Women of Troy lead the all-time series with rival UCLA by a 64-58 margin. Ask someone in blue and gold and they'll tell you otherwise. The Bruins claim to lead the series, 69-64, 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.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Tyrah Ariail

Ally Batenhorst

Adonia Faumuina

Leah Ford

Grae Gosnell

Jadyn Livings

Gala Trubint

Mia Tuaniga