No. 20 USC Women's Volleyball Outlasts Ohio State in Big Ten Opener

Friday, September 27

Los Angeles, Calif.

7:00 p.m.

USC

9-2,1-0Big Ten

Ohio State

7-4,0-1Big Ten

Ohio St.

Southern California

Photo by: Drake Lee

No. 20 USC Women's Volleyball Outlasts Ohio State in Big Ten Opener

September 27, 2024 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score

The Women of Troy secured the program’s first Big Ten victory in a five-set thriller over the Buckeyes

LOS ANGELES – The No. 20-ranked USC women's volleyball team (9-2, 1-0 Big Ten) completed a five-set victory (19-25, 25-21, 25-20, 20-25, 15-13) to extend its win streak to six matches in a win over Ohio State (7-4, 0-1) in the Trojans' historic first Big Ten Conference match at Galen Center on Friday, Sept. 27.

KEY PLAYERS

Gr. OH Ally Batenhorst led the Trojan offense with 15 kills to go with eight digs and five blocks (one solo).
Sr. S Mia Tuaniga dished out 39 assists and had 12 digs for her fifth double-double of the season (33rd career). She also had two kills, two blocks, and a service ace for four points.
Fr. OH Jadyn Livings had her fifth straight match in double-digit kills and finished with 13 to go with 10 digs for her second straight double-double. Livings also had three blocks and scored on a service ace.
Redshirt So. OPP Adonia Faumuina posted nine kills and matched her career high with six blocks to go with five digs.
Redshirt Jr. MB Tyrah Ariail scored 13.5 points with eight kills (3e, 15att, .333) and eight blocks (one solo) with an ace.
Fr. MB Favor Anyanwu collected seven kills (2e, 18att, .278) and had eight blocks.
Gr. DS Grae Gosnell had 10 digs while Jr. LIB Gala Trubint returned from a two-match absence to tally eight digs and had a season-high seven assists in out-of-system and transition plays.
For the Buckeyes, Emily Londot had 15 kills to lead the offense and finished with the first Ohio State triple-double since 2016 with 11 digs and 10 blocks (one solo). Olivia Hasbrook led all players with 20 digs. Mia Tuman had 37 assists with eight digs and four blocks. Grace Egan tallied 12 kills and had 14 digs for a double-double.

HOW IT HAPPENED

USC secured its seventh match with double-digit blocks (17.0) and finished the match with more kills (56-50) than the Buckeyes, but Ohio State had more blocks (19.5), more digs (64-59) and more service aces (8-4).
The Trojans led, 15-14, at the media stoppage in the opening set, but Ohio State went on a run to seize set point, 24-18 and closed out a 25-19 win. USC collected six of its blocks in set one and got three kills apiece from Faumuina and Livings. The Buckeyes hit .154 and had 14 kills—six from Londot—despite the Trojans' net defense.
USC evened the match with a 25-21 win in set two behind five kills from Batenhorst and four more from Livings. Livings also tallied four digs as part of the Trojans' effort to hold the Buckeyes to .000 hitting with five kills on 25 swings. USC added two more blocks and served up a pair of aces, one by Tuaniga and one from Ariail.
Batenhorst poured in five more kills in the third and spurred the Trojans to a .355 hitting performance with 15 kills (4e) on 31 swings. Ariail and Livings each picked up three kills while Tuaniga racked up two of her own en route to a 25-20 win for a 2-1 lead in the match. The Trojans led by as many as seven and collected five more blocks but were caught at 16-all when the Buckeyes reeled off a 7-0 run. Anyanwu's kill ended the burst and set the Women of Troy on a path to victory.
Both teams had four blocks apiece in the fourth, but Ohio State hit .143 to outpace USC's .069 attack rate and sent the match to a fifth set with a 25-20 win. Batenhorst added four more kills while Livings put up two with the Trojans' lone service ace of the frame. Egan logged six kills to pace the Buckeye attack.
The Trojans raced out to a 12-6 lead in the fifth but had to fight off a hard charge by the Buckeyes to hold on for a 15-13 victory to seal with match. Faumuina had two kills—including the last point of the match—while Ariail and Madison Pietsch each added two kills apiece. Megan Verbiest came in and added three digs and had a service ace.

UP NEXT

USC plays its first Big Ten road match when it treks to Lincoln, Neb., to take on No. 2 Nebraska (11-1, 1-0 Big Ten) at Devaney Center on Sunday (Sept. 29). First serve is set for 6:30 p.m. CT (4:30 p.m. PT) and the match will be shown live on Big Ten Network.

MATCH NOTES

USC improved to 5-2 all-time against Ohio State (3-0 at home) and to 2-0 in five-set matches against the Buckeyes.
The Women of Troy improved to 36-13 all-time in conference openers with a 21-5 mark when USC opens conference play with a match at home.
The Trojans won their sixth straight home match at Galen Center and improved to 210-56 all-time in the arena.
USC reached double-digit blocks for the seventh time this year.
In five-set matches, USC improved to 2-0 on the season and moved to 154-108 all-time with a 64-40 record at home. Against Big Ten opponents specifically, the Trojans improved to 44-39 in five-setters.

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.