USC Women's Volleyball Bounces Back to Take Down Hawai'i in Second Meeting

HONOLULU – The USC women's volleyball team (4-4) defeated Hawai'i (3-5) in four sets (21-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-23) at Simplifi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center on Saturday, Sept. 11. With the win, the Women of Troy earned a split with the Wahine after dropping a four-setter the night before.
 
KEY PLAYERS

• Gr. OH Brooke Botkin shared match-high honors with 16 kills (8e, 45att, .178) and recorded her second double-double of the season (30th of her career) with 15 digs.
• Jr. OPP Emilia Weske returned to the court after sitting out four matches due to injury and tied Botkin with 16 kills (7e, .200) on a career-high 45 attacks to go with four blocks (one solo) and four digs.
• Sr. setter Raquel Lázaro put up her 42nd career double-double (third of the season) with 43 assists and 13 digs.
• Sr. OH Brooklyn Schirmer tallied 12 kills (4e) on just 28 swings to hit .286 and added seven digs and four blocks.
• Gr. MB Candice Denny topped all players with a .500 hitting percentage as she collected 10 kills (1e) on 18 attacks and matched her career best with a match-high seven blocks (one solo).
• Gr. MB Sabrina Smith also hit efficiently with five kills (1e, 14att, .286) to go with five blocks (three solo).
• Gr. LIB Shannon Scully racked up 22 digs and had six assists on 14 second-contact attempts.
• For Hawai'i, Brooke Van Sickle led with 12 kills and had a double-double with 12 digs but hit .070 (8e, 57att) in the process. Mylana Byrd also had a double-double with 31 assists and 13 digs. Amber Igiede had 11 kills (2e, 20att, .450).

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Hawai'i led wire-to-wire in the first set despite a late push by the Women of Troy. Botkin and Weske each scored four kills apiece while Denny served up two aces from the back line. USC came only as close as three points after trailing by as many as six, but UH ended the opening frame with a block to win 25-21.
• The Trojans turned the tables in set two to get a 25-16 win. USC had 18 kills and hit .342 (5e, 38att) behind five kills each from Denny and Botkin and four more from Weske. The Trojans out-dug the Wahine in the second set, 21 to 13, with nine coming from Scully alone.
• Early struggles plunged the Women of Troy into a nine-point hole in the third set as UH led, 20-11. Then Weske and Botkin came to life for six and five kills respectively, and Scully racked up another eight digs to flip the script and give USC a come-from-behind 25-22 win. The receipts on the Trojans' run to the win had USC on top, 14-2, to close.
• The score was tied eight times and the lead changed three times until the Trojans went up, 18-16, in the fourth to seize control. This time, it was Schirmer who provided the fireworks with six kills without an error on 10 swings (.600) while Botkin collected six of her digs to help sew up a 25-23 win and end the match. 

UP NEXT

• The Women of Troy return to the mainland to close the non-conference schedule with a Friday-night (Sept. 17) meeting against No. 25 San Diego (5-2) at Galen Center. First serve is set for 6 p.m. PT at Galen Center. Fans can visit USCTrojans.com for ticket information and links to purchase.

MATCH NOTES

• USC improved to 19-23 all-time against the Wahine and to 14-12 when the teams meet on the islands.
• The Trojans went to 23-13 all-time in matches played in the Aloha State.

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.