STANFORD, Calif. - The Stanford women's volleyball team suffered its first home loss in nearly two years Sunday evening, falling to the third-ranked USC Trojans 26-24, 19-25, 20-25, 25-17, 15-13 in a five-set thriller at Maples Pavilion.

The eighth-ranked Cardinal's (7-3, 1-1 Pac-12) last defeat at Maples Pavilion was also against the Trojans (14-0, 2-0 Pac-12) on October 30, 2013 in a match that also went the distance.

USC, which had dropped just two sets all year before Sunday's match, was led throughout by outside hitters Samantha Bricio and Alyse Ford, who combined for 39 kills. In addition to her powerful attack, Bricio poured in five service aces (she is the Pac-12 conference's all-time leader in the category).

Neither side was able to gain momentum in the first set, and USC led 15-13 at the media timeout. Stanford called time trailing 19-17 and 22-19, with a Merete Lutz kill tying the set at 23. But Ford, a freshman with a 31-inch standing vertical jump, answered with a powerful kill to give USC a 26-24 victory. Bricio and Ford tallied five kills apiece, as did Lutz and senior Jordan Burgess. Ivana Vanjak and Brittany Howard proved tough on the block for the Cardinal, but USC's attack was too much early on, making up for five first-set service errors.

After dropping the opening set for the first time since its loss at North Carolina earlier this month, Stanford opened the second frame in strong fashion, forcing USC into a timeout after a 6-1 run gave the Cardinal a 9-7 advantage. The lead was pushed to 12-7 before Trojan opposite Brittany Abercrombie stopped the bleeding with a kill, but Stanford was on top for good. Sloppy play by USC allowed the Card to get its five-point lead back at 22-17; a late kill and ace courtesy of senior Madi Bugg was all Stanford needed to close out the set 25-19. It was only the third set the Trojans, who hit -.034 with 11 attack errors, had dropped all season, and the result could've been far more lopsided if not for five Cardinal service errors.

Stanford rolled its momentum right into the third set, going up 6-2 after kills by Howard and Hayley Hodson. But Bricio would not let USC go down easily, pulling the Trojans even at 7-7 with a kill and consecutive aces. The Cardinal led 15-14 at the media timeout and it would press the advantage to 20-16 before USC called its own timeout. The Trojans, however, could not bring the score closer than three points down the stretch as the Cardinal went on to take the set 25-20. Stanford's hit an impressive .379 while also reducing its service errors to two.

Howard began the fourth set with an emphatic kill, but the Cardinal was never able to get going thereafter. A 5-0 run by USC forced Stanford coach John Dunning to call timeout. The Trojans kept rolling out of the break, reeling off three consecutive kills before the Cardinal called time again. A kill from Lutz pulled Stanford to within six points at 18-12, but it couldn't get any closer than that, as kills from Ford and Bricio pushed USC to a 25-17 victory and tied the match at two sets each.

The final set did not begin well for the Cardinal, and it looked as though USC might run away with it early after jumping out to a 6-1 lead. Not to be silenced on its home court though, Stanford stormed back with a 4-0 run of its own, and eventually tied the set at 9-9 on a Trojan blocking error. The Cardinal pulled even again at 12-12 with a Hodson kill, one of four for the freshman in the final frame. In the end, though, Bricio was too much for Stanford's front line, firing three laser-like kills down the stretch to give USC a narrow 15-13 win.

The victory kept the Trojans undefeated on the season and snapped Stanford's 27-match home winning streak; it was only the second loss at Maples for the Cardinal's senior class.

Stanford will hit the road this week, playing at No. 14 Arizona and No. 7 Arizona State on Wednesday and Friday, respectively, before returning home to face Oregon State and Oregon, Oct. 9 and 11. All of four of those matches will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Networks.