USC Women's Volleyball Tops Tigers in Sweep to Advance to NCAA Second Round

Thursday, December 4

Los Angeles, Calif.

7:00 p.m. PT

USC

25-6,15-5Big Ten

Princeton

18-7,11-3Ivy League

Princeton

Southern California

Photo by: Kim Ly

USC Women's Volleyball Tops Tigers in Sweep to Advance to NCAA Second Round

December 04, 2025 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Highlights Press Conference

The Women of Troy hit .444 and improved to 36-5 in the first round of the NCAA tournament

LOS ANGELES – The fourth-seeded No. 14-ranked USC women's volleyball team (25-6) swept Ivy League champion Princeton (18-7) in straight sets (25-19, 25-12, 25-13) in the first round of the 2025 NCAA tournament at Galen Center on Thursday, Dec. 4.

The Women of Troy advance to the second round to face Cal Poly (26-7) on Friday (Dec. 5) at 7 p.m. PT at Galen Center. The win over the Tigers moves USC to 36-5 all-time in the first round of the NCAA tournament and to 85-37 all-time in the national tourney. The Trojans also win their fifth straight match and go to 15-3 in home matches.

KEY PLAYERS

RS So. OH London Wijay had 12 kills (1e, 29att) and hit .379 with five digs, two blocks, and a service ace for 14.0 points.
Fr. S Reese Messer set the Trojans to a season-high .444 hitting (46k, 6e, 90att) with 40 assists and added five digs, three kills (0e, 6att, .500) and three blocks.
Fr. OPP Abigail Mullen led all scorers with 15.0 points earned on 11 kills (3e, 20att) and .400 hitting to go with six digs, three service aces, two blocks, and two assists.
RS Jr. OH Adonia Faumuina added 11 kills (2e) to hit .450 on 20 swings with two digs and a block.
RS So. MB Leah Ford had four blocks (one solo) and five kills on seven swings (.714) to finish with 7.5 points.
Sr. MB Rylie McGinest added four kills on seven attacks (.571) with five blocks.
Sr. LIB Gala Trubint totaled 13 digs and had a pair of assists. It was her 76th-career match in double-digit digs.
For the Tigers, Valerie Nutakor and Erin McNair each had six kills. Syndey Draper led Princeton with 13 digs and had 15 assists for the double-double.

HOW IT HAPPENED

USC hit north of .300 for the 11th time with a season-best .444 attack rate (46k, 6e, 90att) and had more kills (46-26), assists (45-23), digs (39-30), blocks (9.0-3.0), and service aces (8-0) than the Tigers.
Mullen tallied five of her kills in set one to help lift the Trojans to a .361 hitting percentage (17k, 4e, 36att) and a 25-19 win. Faumuina and Wijay each added four kills apiece while Trubint picked up four of her digs in the opening frame. Princeton stayed within striking distance of the Trojans until back-to-back aces by Megan Verbiest put USC on top, 15-10. The Tigers came no closer than four points from then on as Messer and McGinest teamed up for a block to end the set.
USC had 14 kills (1e, 32att) to hit .406 in set two and ran away with a 25-12 win to go up, 2-0. Faumuina put up four kills on just six swings. The Trojans had 17 digs and put up three blocks to hold the Tiger attack to a .000 rate (8k, 8e, 33att).
The Trojans put the pedal to the metal in the third and posted a .636 hitting percentage with 15 kills (1e) on just 22 swings to sew up the sweep on a 25-13 win. Wijay had five kills on six attacks while Faumuina added three more kills. Trubint had six digs in the frame, but Mullen did the most damage with service pressure and a run that included all three of her service aces.

UP NEXT

USC moves into the second round for the fourth straight time under head coach Brad Keller and will face Cal Poly. The Trojans are 13-5 in the head-to-head series against the Mustangs and last played Cal Poly in 2012. The Trojans and Mustangs will meet at Galen Center for a 7 p.m. PT match that will be shown on ESPN+ on Friday (Dec. 5).

MATCH NOTES

USC and Princeton met for the first time.
The Trojans' 25 wins are the team's most since 2017 when USC finished 25-10 with an appearance in the regional final.
USC's five-match win streak is the team's second longest string of the season (Aug. 29-Sept. 7).
The Women of Troy improved to 15-3 at home this season and to 231-63 (.786) all-time at Galen Center, which includes a 21-4 mark in NCAA tournament matches.
USC goes to 131-44 (.749) all-time in the postseason with an 85-37 (.697) mark in the NCAA tournament.
The Trojans improved to 36-5 in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

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, TikTok, and Instagram.