No. 19 USC Women's Volleyball Collects 3-1 Win Over California

Sunday, September 21

Los Angeles, Calif.

2:00 p.m. PT

USC

9-1,0-0Big Ten

California

3-7,0-0ACC

California

Southern California

Photo by: Bryce Dechert

No. 19 USC Women's Volleyball Collects 3-1 Win Over California

September 21, 2025 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Highlights Press Conference

The Trojans complete nonconference play 9-1 on a four-set win over the Golden Bears

LOS ANGELES – The 19th-ranked USC women's volleyball team (9-1) claimed a four-set win (25-20, 25-27, 25-18, 25-14) over California (3-7) to close nonconference play at Galen Center on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 21.

KEY PLAYERS

Fr. S Reese Messer put up 43 assists and had 12 digs to log her fourth double-double. She added five blocks (three solo) to go with a kill and a service ace to finish with six points.
Fr. OPP Abigail Mullen also recorded her fourth double-double on 12 kills and 11 digs to go with five blocks and five service aces for a match-high 19.5 points.
RS So. OH London Wijay led all players with 14 kills and had six digs and a block.
Fr. LIB Taylor Deckert logged 14 digs—her seventh match in double digits—and had four assists and three service aces.
So. MB Mia Tvrdy tied her career high with 10 kills (1e) on a career-best 21 attacks and hit .429 to go with a match- and career-high eight blocks for a career-high14.0 points.
RS Jr. OH Adonia Faumuina put up eight kills (1e, 15att) and hit .467 with three blocks and a service ace.
For the Golden Bears, Dominique Phills led with nine kills and added 11 digs. Mikayla Hayden had eight kills and led Cal with three blocks. Sophia Johnson had a match-high 15 digs. Sawyer Thomsen and Arissa Carbonara each had seven kills while Maria Stirbu put up 31 assists and had seven digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

USC had 15 blocks (3.75 bps) to reach double digits for the sixth time this season; nine more than Cal's six blocks. The Trojans held the Bears to a .102 hitting percentage (41k, 27e, 137att) and had a big edge from the service line with a 10-1 advantage in aces. USC also had 49 assists to Cal's 36. Both teams finished the match with 52 digs.
The Trojans racked up six of their blocks in the opening set to hold Cal to a .000 hitting percentage with eight kills (8e) on 30 swings. Tvrdy had four blocks to lead all Trojans and added a pair of kills—two of USC's nine—to help her team grab a 25-20 win. Wijay had four kills to pace the USC offense, which grabbed a four-point lead at 23-19 on her fourth termination. The Bears saved one set point before Mullen and Tvrdy rejected a Cal attack to seal the first set win.
USC put up five more blocks in set two but came up on the short end of a 27-25 result as the Bears evened the match. Wijay logged four more kills while Faumuina and Mullen each tallied three. California led for nearly the entirety of the set, but a 3-0 run pulled the teams into the first of seven ties at 19-all. The Bears went ahead each time while the Trojans saved a pair of set points before Cal closed out the win.
Wijay's joust winner put the Trojans on top by three, 15-12, in the third and was the final of three lead changes en route to a 25-18 USC victory. Sr. MB Rylie McGinest had kills for the Trojans' last three points and shared a set-high mark with Wijay with four kills apiece. USC hit .276 with 15 kills (7e) on 29 swings to outpace Cal's .062 (7k, 5e) on 32 attempts.
USC locked down to finish off the match on a 25-14 win in the fourth set. Mullen added five kills without an error on eight swings and Tvrdy had four kills as USC hit .379 with 13 kills (2e) on 29 attacks. Mullen and Deckert each picked up four digs apiece and the Trojans had a pair of blocks to help hold the Bears to a .167 hitting rate (11k, 6e) on 30 swings.

UP NEXT

The Trojans open Big Ten play on the road and will cross the country to face defending NCAA champion Penn State in University Park, Pa., on Friday (Sept. 26) and then head to Columbus, Ohio, for a match with Ohio State on Saturday (Sept. 27). Both matches will be shown on Big Ten Plus streams.

MATCH NOTES

USC improved to 69-13 all-time against California and had not faced the Golden Bears since the teams were both part of the Pac-12 Conference in 2023.
The Trojans improved to 7-0 at home this season and move to 223-60 all-time at Galen Center.
USC reached double-digit blocks (15.0) for the sixth time. The Trojans had double-digit blocks 20 times in 2024.
The Women of Troy finish nonconference play with a 9-1 mark; the program's best since it was 12-0 in preconference matches in 2015.

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.