No. 17 USC Women's Volleyball Hosts Scarlet Knights and No. 1 Huskers

Friday, November 14

Los Angeles, Calif.

7:00 p.m. PT

USC

Rutgers

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USC women's volleyball plays Northwestern at Galen Center

Photo by: Bryce Dechert

No. 17 USC Women's Volleyball Hosts Scarlet Knights and No. 1 Huskers

November 11, 2025 | Women's Volleyball

#USCWVB Notebook (Nov. 10)2025 USC Schedule Buy Tickets

The Women of Troy have won eight straight matches heading into meetings with Rutgers and Nebraska

LOS ANGELES – No. 17 USC (19-5, 10-4 Big Ten) looks to extend a season-long eight-match win streak when it hosts Rutgers (11-15, 2-12) and No. 1 Nebraska (24-0, 14-0) at Galen Center this weekend. While the Trojans' head-to-head histories with both teams is short—one match with the Scarlet Knights and eight with the Huskers—the USC-Nebraska meeting will mark the 33rd time the Trojans face a No. 1-ranked team. USC has beaten No. 1 three times at Galen Center.

THIS WEEK
MATCH #25 • Friday, Nov. 14 • 7 p.m. PT
No. 17 USC (19-5, 10-4) vs. Rutgers (11-15, 2-12)
Galen Center • Los Angeles, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 1-0 (1.000)
LAST MEETING: W 3-0 (Oct. 20, 2024 • Piscataway, N.J.)
STREAK: Won 1 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 1-0
TV/STREAM: B1G+ (Scott Hills, Makena Arteaga, & Lily Coleman)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: ScarletKnights.com

MATCH #26 • Sunday, Nov. 16 • 12 p.m. PT [TICKETS are SOLD OUT]
No. 17 USC (19-5, 10-4) vs. No. 1 Nebraska (24-0, 14-0)
Galen Center • Los Angeles, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 5-3 (.625)
LAST MEETING: L 3-0 (Sept. 29, 2024 • Lincoln, Neb.)
STREAK: Lost 2 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 5-3
TV/STREAM: B1G+ (Paul Sunderland, Kasey Kazliner, & Riley Sager)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: Huskers.com

FIRST SERVE (TL;DR)

USC is led by sixth-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 104-62 (.627) as the Trojans' head coach.
The Trojans are 12-2 at Galen Center this season; 228-62 (.786) all-time.
USC's eight-match win streak is the team's longest of the season and is the longest conference win streak under Keller.
USC is 8-24 all-time against teams ranked No. 1; 4-9 at home with a 3-3 record at Galen Center. The Trojans beat Cal (2011), UCLA (2012), and Stanford (2012). The only other time USC has faced a No. 1-ranked Nebraska, the Women of Troy won, 3-2, on Dec. 11, 2004, in Louisville, Ky.
The USC-Nebraska match is officially a sellout; the first sold out women's volleyball match in the 19-year history of the Galen Center.
OPP Abigail Mullen--last week's Big Ten Freshman of the Week--ranks third in the league at 0.44 service aces per set. She is second on the team in both kills (2.90 kps) and points (3.77 pps).
OH London Wijay leads the Trojans in scoring (3.85 pps) and kills (3.47 kps).

LAST TIME OUT: USC extended its win streak to eight matches with a pair of four-set victories; at home over Northwestern and on the road against Washington. London Wijay had 22 kills and nine digs to pace the Trojans in the win against the Wildcats. Abigail Mullen delivered 14 kills with eight digs in the win against Northwestern. Mullen took the reins and put up 15 kills with a career-high 17 digs for her sixth double-double in the win over the Huskies. Reese Messer dished out 49 assists in each match while Taylor Deckert had 23 digs against NU and followed up with 14 against UW.

CORNY CONNECTIONS: Four Trojans have hailed from the Cornhusker State. MB Mia Tvrdy is from La Vista and LIB/DS Paisley Douglas calls Omaha home. LIB/DS Raegan LeGrand (2016-19) was the first-ever Nebraska native—from Papillion—to wear the Cardinal and Gold. Setter Elle Glock (2021; Wahoo, Neb.) played one season at USC before transferring to Louisville. OH Ally Batenhorst (2024) played three seasons at Nebraska before she transferred to USC.

AVCA POLL POSITION: The Trojans open the 2025 season ranked No. 21 in the AVCA coaches' poll—the same position it held to open the 2024 season. Overall, USC has appeared in the coaches' poll 554 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 35 of 42 times with 18 finishes in the top 10; 12 in the top five, and twice as the No. 1-ranked team (2002, '03).

CENTURY CITY: Sixth-year head coach Brad Keller reached 100-career wins with the Trojans' 3-1 victory over Washington on Oct. 26. He is now 104-62 and is the fourth USC head coach ever to collect 100 or more wins in school history. Mick Haley (435), Chuck Erbe (310), and Lisa Love (205) are the others.

B1G POW WOW: Five different Women of Troy have garnered Big Ten weekly awards this season. Redshirt So. MB Leah Ford was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 1—the first weekly award of her career—after she produced career highs of 11 kills and 10 blocks for her first double-double. Reese Messer was chosen as the Big Ten Freshman of the Week (Sept. 22) for her first-career weekly award and repeated for the honor on Oct. 27. She was then chosen for the Setter of the Week award on Nov. 3. Redshirt So. OH London Wijay earned Big Ten Player of the Week recognition (Oct. 20) and was chosen again on Nov. 3. Fr. LIB Taylor Deckert was tabbed Freshman of the Week (Oct. 20) and Abigail Mullen was Freshman of the Week on Nov. 10. Trojans have earned Big Ten weekly awards 12 times. In 2024—USC's first year in the conference—Mia Tuaniga earned Setter of the Week laurels twice while Ally Batenhorst was named the Player of the Week once and Jadyn Livings was chosen for the Freshman of the Week award once.

LET'S GO STREAKING: USC's eight-match win streak is the team's longest of the season and is the second longest by the Trojans under sixth-year head coach Brad Keller. USC won nine straight under Keller in 2023 (Sept. 8-Oct. 1). In conference matches, the eight Big Ten wins in a row is the longest under Keller. The Trojans previously won seven league matches in a row under his guidance in 2022 (Sept. 30-Oct. 21). The Women of Troy last had a double-digit win streak in 2015 under Hall of Fame head coach Mick Haley. That year, USC won 22 matches to open the season and later reached the NCAA regional final.

ONCE AROUND THE BLOCK: USC's 240.5 total blocks leads all Big Ten teams and its 2.70 blocks per set ranks second in the league and is 19th nationally. USC posted 16.0 blocks in a win over Loyola Marymount (Aug. 31) and has reached double-digit blocks 12 times. In 2024, USC reached double-digit blocks 20 times in 32 matches including season highs of 19.5 blocks twice: vs. Kansas State (Sept. 6) and vs. Loyola Marymount (Sept. 19).

B1G AND SMALL: Only three Big Ten teams hold winning records against the Trojans. Wisconsin is 6-4 against USC. Illinois is 4-3 and Penn State is 4-2 against the Women of Troy. In fact, USC has not lost to four different conference foes: Iowa (2-0), Michigan (2-0), Northwestern (3-0), and Rutgers (1-0).

THE ONE AND ONLY: USC has faced the nation's No. 1-ranked team 32 times. The Trojans played their first No. 1-ranked team on Dec. 19, 1982, in that fall's NCAA championship match; a five-set loss to Hawai'i. Overall, USC is 8-24 in those 32 contests with a 4-9 mark when it hosts No. 1 at home. When No. 1 teams visit Galen Center, USC is 3-3 with wins over California (2011), UCLA (2012), and Stanford (2012). The three losses were to Stanford in 2010 and 2014, and to Pittsburgh in 2024.