No. 21 USC Women's Volleyball Tacks Up Four-Set Win Over Pepperdine

Saturday, August 31

Malibu, Calif.

6:00 p.m.

USC

2-0,0-0Big Ten

Pepperdine

0-2,0-0WCC

Southern California

Pepperdine

Ally Batenhorst celebrates in the huddle after a point

Photo by: Kim Ly

No. 21 USC Women's Volleyball Tacks Up Four-Set Win Over Pepperdine

August 31, 2024 | Women's Volleyball

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Ally Batenhorst recorded her third-career double-double with 16 kills and 11 digs to lead USC to a win over the Waves

MALIBU, Calif. – The No. 21-ranked USC women's volleyball team (2-0) defeated Pepperdine (0-2) in four sets (22-25, 25-21, 25-17, 25-17) at Firestone Fieldhouse on Saturday, Aug. 31.

KEY PLAYERS

Gr. OH Ally Batenhorst led all players in scoring with 17.5 points collected on 16 kills and two blocks (one solo) and registered her third-career double-double (first since 2022) with a season-high 11 digs.
Jr. LIB Gala Trubint tied for match-high honors with 16 digs and reached double-digit digs for the 50th time in her career.
Jr. DS Megan Verbiest registered a new career high with 15 digs. Coincidentally, she set her previous career high of 13 digs in a match against Hawai'i on this same date last year (Aug. 31).
Sr. S Mia Tuaniga put up 48 assists and set USC to .215 hitting to go with eight digs, four blocks, and three service aces.
Fr. MB Favor Anyanwu reached double-digits for the first time in her career as she logged 11 kills (1e) on 19 swings to hit .526 and added four blocks and one dig.
Sr. MB Tyrah Ariail racked up eight kills (2e, 17att, .353) and had four blocks and a dig.
So. OH London Wijay posted her eighth-career double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs and added a service ace.
Fr. OH Jadyn Livings saw her first collegiate action and recorded five kills (0e) on seven swings to hit .714.
For the Waves, Grace Chillingworth led with 14 kills and finished with a double-double with 11 digs. Riley Simpson added 12 kills and had four blocks. Birdie Hendrickson put up 16 digs to tie for match-high honors and added seven kills.

HOW IT HAPPENED

USC had more kills (56-47), digs (64-56), assists (54-45), and service aces (4-0), than the Waves and matched Pepperdine's block with nine apiece. The Trojans also out-hit Pepperdine, .215 to .159.
The Trojans held court to open the match, but after eight ties and five lead changes, Pepperdine walked away with a 25-22 win. Batenhorst and Wijay both posted four kills apiece, but USC hit .119—outpaced by the Waves' .289 effort—as Pepperdine posted 18 digs and three blocks in the win. Trubint had five of her digs in set one.
USC put up 20 digs and ended rallies with a pair of blocks to temper the Waves and held Pepperdine to .053 hitting in a 25-21 set-two win. Wijay collected five more kills and Batenhorst totaled four while Tuaniga dished out 13 assists. Verbiest had eyes on every ball and led USC's floor defense with seven digs in the second frame.
The Trojans recorded three blocks in the third to hold Pepperdine to .088 hitting and used a 7-0 run to leap-frog the Waves and claim a 16-10 lead. USC was never threatened again en route to a 25-17 win for a 2-1 lead in the match. Batenhorst put up four more kills including the set-clinching point and recorded her third-career double-double.
USC used another 7-0 burst to reach match point at 24-16 in the fourth set. Back-to-back aces by Tuaniga and a solo block by Batenhorst pushed the Trojans in front, 22-16, before Ariail swooped in to secure the win with the final kill of the night. USC hit .387 and got four kills from Batenhorst and four more from Livings. Trubint dug up four balls and had two of her four assists on out-of-system plays.

UP NEXT

The Trojans head to Omaha, Neb., for the Creighton Classic next week at D.J. Sokol Arena. USC takes on 12th-ranked tourney host Creighton on Thursday (Sept. 5) at 6 p.m. CT (4 p.m. PT) and then plays Kansas State on Friday (Sept. 6) in a 4 p.m. CT (2 p.m. PT) contest. The Trojans and the Bluejays will be shown live nationally on FS1 and the USC-KSU match will be streamed live on FloVolleyball.com. Links to watch are available at USCTrojans.com.

MATCH NOTES

USC improved to 41-8 all-time against Pepperdine and extended its active win streak in the series to eight matches dating back to the 2006 season.
The Trojans improve to 15-2 in matches played in Malibu, Calif., all against the Waves.

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.