USC Women's Volleyball Falls to Texas in NCAA Second Round

Friday, December 6

Austin, Texas

4:30 p.m. PT

USC

22-10,13-7Big Ten

Texas

20-6,13-3SEC

Southern California

Texas

Paisley Douglas, Gala Trubint and Ally Batenhorst wait to receive the ball in the NCAA Tournament

Photo by: Aaron Wilson

USC Women's Volleyball Falls to Texas in NCAA Second Round

December 06, 2024 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Highlights NCAA Bracket

Ally Batenhorst and Mia Tuaniga reached major career statistical milestones in the Trojans’ loss to the Longhorns

AUSTIN, Texas – The 19th-ranked and sixth-seeded USC women's volleyball team (22-10) fell to third-seeded No. 13 Texas (20-6) in three sets (26-24, 25-20, 25-22) and was eliminated in the second round of the NCAA tournament at Gregory Gymnasium on Friday, Dec. 6.

KEY PLAYERS

Sr. S Mia Tuaniga became the school's all-time assists leader as she finished with 25 on the night and 4,529 in her career. She also had four kills, two digs and a service ace to record 5.0 points. Tuaniga's seventh assist of the night moved her ahead of the school's previous career record of 4,510 held by All-American setter Kendall Bateman (2008-11).
Gr. OH Ally Batenhorst led the Trojans with 17 kills and had three digs, a block, and a service ace. Her first kill of the contest was the 1,000th of her career including kills collected at Nebraska.
Redshirt Jr. MB Tyrah Ariail logged five kills and had three blocks (two solo).
Jr. LIB Gala Trubint led the USC defense with 11 digs for her 70th-career match in double digits.
For the Longhorns, Madisen Skinner led all players with 23 kills (6e, 49att) and .347 hitting and had the double-double with 12 digs to go with two blocks and a service ace. Jenna Wenaas logged 13 kills on 21 swings without an error to hit .619. Averi Carlson totaled 40 assists and had four digs and four blocks.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Trojans led by as many as five points early in the opening set and held a lead for most of the set, but the Longhorns fought back to force just the second tie of the set at 19-all and went on to claim a 26-24 win. Batenhorst led USC with four kills. Her first came off a pipe set from Tuaniga, which went down for her 1,000th-career kill. Tuaniga finished the set with eight assists to move into first place on the Trojans' all-time ladder for career assists. USC finished the set with 12 kills (6e, 34att) and hit .176 while Texas had 17 kills (6e, 40att) and hit .275.
Batenhorst had five kills in the second set, but the Trojans totaled just 10 kills and hit .097 in a 25-20 loss. Both teams had four blocks, but Skinner buoyed the Texas attack with eight kills. UT hit .306 and collected 17 kills (6e) on 36 attacks. USC led by as many as three points at 12-9, but the Longhorns broke the fourth tie of the frame to go in front, 15-14, and were never tied again on the way to taking a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Women of Troy grabbed an early 5-1 lead in set three, but Texas came storming back to claim a 12-11 advantage on back-to-back kills from Skinner; and held on to complete the sweep with a 25-22 win. The Trojans hit .195 with 14 kills, which included eight from Batenhorst alone and closed to within a single point at 22-21. Texas had 17 kills for the third straight set and finished with a .368 hitting rate in set three with just three errors on 38 attacks.

MATCH NOTES

USC fell to 5-6 all-time against Texas and moved to 2-3 when the teams meet in Austin. The Longhorns have won each of the last three meetings overall.
The Trojans dropped to 130-44 all-time in postseason matches with an 84-37 mark in the NCAA tourney.
The Women of Troy moved to 33-9 in the state of Texas with a 12-3 record in the city of Austin.
USC fell to 42-10 against teams from the state of Texas.

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.