USC Women's Volleyball Pounces on Panthers to Complete 3-0 Sweep

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The USC women's volleyball team (3-1) completed a 3-0 sweep (26-24, 25-21, 25-12) of Northern Iowa (2-2) to open the weekend at the Bluegrass Battle at Memorial Coliseum on Friday, Sept. 3. The Trojans extended their win streak to three matches and nine consecutive sets.
 
KEY PLAYERS

• Sr. setter Raquel Lázaro recorded the first USC double-double of the season (40th of her career) with 23 assists and 11 digs to go with three kills (1e, 9att, .222), three blocks, and a service ace.
• Gr. OH Brooke Botkin led the Trojans with nine kills (3e, 29att, .207) and had seven digs and two blocks.
• Sr. OH Brooklyn Schirmer racked up seven kills (3e, 18att, .222) with four digs and a service ace.
• Off the bench, Fr. setter Mia Tuaniga served four aces and had four assists and two digs.
• For UNI, Tayler Alden and Kaylissa Arndorfer each had seven kills and Kaylee Donner led the Panthers with nine digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The teams went back and forth in the opening set, and USC trailed by as many as three points early on before forcing a tie at 23-all. UNI claimed the next point, but a 3-0 run by the Trojans closed out the 26-24 win.
• Tuaniga served three straight aces and finished with four in the second frame to help the Trojans flip the scoreboard for an 11-7 lead. USC broke open a lead as large as eight points at 21-13, but the Panthers fought back to close within three at 24-21 before a UNI error gave the Trojans a 2-0 lead in the match.
• USC came out firing in the third for an 8-1 lead and later produced a second 8-1 run to take match point at 24-10. UNI saved two match points before Lázaro's joust winner completed the 3-0 sweep for the Women of Troy on a 25-12 victory.

UP NEXT

• The Women of Troy also play in the second match at the Bluegrass Battle and take on Creighton (3-0) at 5 p.m. ET (2 p.m. PT). The match-up will be shown live on ESPN+.

MATCH NOTES

• USC improved to 8-1 all-time against Northern Iowa and won its third straight match over the Panthers.
• The Trojans improved to 6-0 all-time in the Bluegrass State.
• The Women of Troy recorded three straight 3-0 victories for the first time since 2018 (Sept. 14-19) with wins over Louisiana, San Diego, and UCLA.
• USC's nine-set win streak is the team's longest since winning 13 straight between Sept. 8-23 in 2018.

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, Twitter, and Instagram.