No. 21 USC Women's Volleyball Set For Road Tests at Northwestern and No. 8 Purdue

LOS ANGELES – The No. 21-ranked USC women's volleyball team (18-8, 10-6 Big Ten) returns to the Midwest for matches at Northwestern (5-19, 3-13 Big Ten) and eighth-ranked Purdue (22-5, 13-3) this week. The Trojans meet the Wildcats at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Thursday (Nov. 21) in Evanston, Ill., and then face the Boilermakers at Holloway Gymnasium on Saturday (Nov. 23) in West Lafayette, Ind. Both matches will be shown on Big Ten Plus streams.

THIS WEEK
MATCH #27 • Thursday, Nov. 21 • 7 p.m. CT (5 p.m. PT)
No. 21 USC (18-8, 10-6) at Northwestern (5-19, 3-13)
Welsh-Ryan Arena • Evanston, Ill.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 1-0 (1.000)
LAST MEETING: W 2-0 (Nov. 6, 1982 • Los Angeles, Calif.)
STREAK: Won 1 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 1-0
TV/STREAM: Big Ten Plus
OPPONENT WEBSITE: NUSports.com

MATCH #28 • Saturday, Nov. 23 • 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT)
No. 21 USC (18-8, 10-6) at No. 8 Purdue (22-5, 13-3)
Holloway Gymnasium • West Lafayette, Ind.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 6-0 (1.000)
LAST MEETING: W 3-1 (Sept. 15, 2023 • West Lafayette, Ind.)
STREAK: Won 6 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 6-0
TV/STREAM: Big Ten Plus
OPPONENT WEBSITE: PurdueSports.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 81-55 (.596) as the Trojans' head coach.
The Trojans are 3-3 all-time in the state of Illinois and are 12-1 all-time in the state of Indiana. USC won a pair of matches in West Lafayette in 2023.
Northwestern head coach Tim Nollan (2008-15) and assistant coach Jeff Liu (2015-16) each previously served on the USC staff under Mick Haley.
Sr. S Mia Tuaniga has started as the Trojans' setter for each of the last three seasons and has 4,312 career assists to rank second in school history.
Gr. OH Ally Batenhorst ranks 10th in the Big Ten for kills (3.73 kps) and is ninth in the league for points (4.41 pps).
Redshirt Fr. MB Leah Ford leads USC (3rd in Big Ten) in hitting (.373) and ranks fourth in the league for blocks (1.35 bps).
Sr. MB Tyrah Ariail is 15th in the Big Ten in blocks (1.14 bps).
USC ranks third in the Big Ten (seventh in the NCAA) for blocks at 2.86 bps and has reached double-digit blocks in 17 matches this season.

LAST TIME OUT: USC earned its second win over a ranked opponent in a stunning five-set comeback victory over No. 11 Oregon to complete a weekend split following a 3-0 loss to sixth-ranked Wisconsin. In the win over the Ducks, the Trojans got 18 kills and 10 digs from Ally Batenhorst as she logged her ninth double-double of the season. Gala Trubint put up 15 digs and had 10 assists for her 64th-career match in double-digit digs and her second-career double-double. Mia Tuaniga moved into second place all-time for career assists at USC and within 200 assists of the school record. The Trojans put up 12.0 blocks for their 17th match in double-digit blocks this fall.

MIDWEST STATE OF MIND: The Trojans are 3-3 all-time in the state of Illinois. USC's three wins are over Notre Dame (1987), American (2004) and Northern Illinois (2013). Each of its losses were to Illinois, once in Chicago and twice in Champaign. In the Hoosier State, USC is 12-1 all-time with its only loss at the hands of Notre Dame in South Bend in 1995.

FROM THE CAT-ACOMBS: First-year Northwestern head coach Tim Nollan spent nine years on staff at USC (2003, '08-15) under Hall of Fame head coach Mick Haley. During his time at Troy, the Trojans went to the NCAA national semifinal twice (2010, '11) and advanced to regional championship matches three other times (2012, '13, '15). First-year Wildcat assistant coach Jeff Liu also has ties to USC with two years on the bench as Haley's technical coordinator (2015-16).

ONCE AROUND THE BLOCK: The Trojans' 2.86 blocks per set ranks third in the Big Ten and are good for seventh nationally. In 26 matches, USC has reached double-digit blocks 17 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 539 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).

FREQUENT FLIERS: The arrival of the Trojans and three former Pac-12 teams into the Big Ten meant more travel and time in the air for all teams. To date, USC has flown 14,930 miles (or 24,029 kilometers) for travel to road matches. By the end of the regular season, the Women of Troy will have flown 20,485 miles (32,968 km).

LONG DISTANCE: USC is 157-110 all-time in five-set matches: 67-41 at home; 66-55 on the road; 24-14 in neutral matches. The Trojans were 6-5 in 11 five-set matches in 2023, which tied a school record previously set in 2019. Against Big Ten opponents, USC is 47-41 all-time in five-set contests.

RANK AND FILE: Of the Trojans' eight losses this season, six have come against ranked opponents. Those include No. 1 Pittsburgh at home (Sept. 11), No. 2 Nebraska on the road (Sept. 29), No. 3 Penn State at home (Oct. 26), No. 6 Wisconsin at home (Nov. 14), No. 11 Creighton in Omaha, Neb. (Sept. 5), and No. 11 Oregon on the road (Oct. 9). The Bluejays later moved up as high as No. 6 in the weekly rankings. USC is otherwise 16-2 against unranked opponents this season and owns two victories over ranked foes: No. 11 Oregon (Nov. 17) and No. 12 Minnesota (Oct. 5).

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Players Mentioned

Tyrah Ariail

Ally Batenhorst

Leah Ford

Gala Trubint

Mia Tuaniga