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USC Women's Volleyball Tuned Up For Bluegrass Battle

by usctrojans.com
Sep 1, 2021

LOS ANGELES - The USC women's volleyball team (2-1) heads to Lexington, Kentucky, this weekend to take on Northern Iowa (2-1), Creighton (3-0), and No. 3-ranked defending NCAA champion Kentucky (3-0) at the Bluegrass Battle. The Women of Troy have won six straight sets entering the weekend and return to the state of Kentucky where they are 5-0 for the first time since 2014.

2021 BLUEGRASS BATTLE
Memorial Coliseum • Lexington, Ky.

MATCH #4 • Friday, September 3 • 10:30 a.m. ET
USC (2-1) vs. Northern Iowa (2-1)
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 7-1 (.875)
LAST MEETING: W 3-1 (Sept. 7, 2019 • Cedar Falls, Iowa)
STREAK: Won 2 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 7-1
TV/STREAM: ESPN+
OPPONENT WEBSITE: UNIPanthers.com

MATCH #5 • Friday, September 3 • 5 p.m. ET
USC (2-1) vs. Creighton (3-0)
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 6-1 (.857)
LAST MEETING: L 3-1 (Sept. 7, 2019 • Cedar Falls, Iowa)
STREAK: Lost 1 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 6-1
TV/STREAM: ESPN+
OPPONENT WEBSITE: GoCreighton.com

MATCH #6 • Saturday, September 4 • 7:30 p.m. ET
USC (2-1) at No. 3 Kentucky (3-0)
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 5-2 (.714)
LAST MEETING: L 3-1 (Sept. 6, 2019 • Cedar Falls, Iowa)
STREAK: Lost 1 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 5-2
TV/STREAM: SEC Network+
OPPONENT WEBSITE: UKAthletics.com

FIRST SERVE

  • The Women of Troy are under the direction of second-year head coach Brad Keller who previously also served as an assistant coach for the USC men's volleyball program.
  • Gr. OH Brooke Botkin was named to the Preseason All-Pac-12 Team.
  • Sr. S Raquel Lázaro was the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year in 2018 and currently leads the league in service aces (9).
  • USC went 2-1 as hosts of the Trojan Invitational last weekend (Aug. 27-28).
  • Pac-12 head coaches picked USC to finish sixth in a preseason poll.
  • USC, Creighton, Kentucky, and Northern Iowa meet as part of a rotating non-conference tournament for the seventh time since 2014. Kentucky's 2014 Commonwealth Classic was the first tourney. USC has won the four-team tournament four times (2014, '15, '16, '18) and Creighton has won twice (2017, '19). The teams did not meet in 2020.
  • The Trojans are 5-0 all-time in the Bluegrass State. They went 3-0 in 2014 and previously played in Kentucky in 2004 (2-0).
  • USC is 9-2 all-time against teams from the state of Kentucky.

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