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USC Women's Volleyball Returns Home For One-Nighter with Toreros

by usctrojans.com
Sep 14, 2021

LOS ANGELES – USC women's volleyball (4-4) returns home to Galen Center for the first time in 20 days and will host No. 21-ranked San Diego (5-2) on Friday (Sept. 17) at 6 p.m. PT. The Women of Troy close their non-conference slate against the Toreros before beginning Pac-12 play with four straight road matches.
 
The Trojans are coming off a four-set victory over Hawai'i that capped a tough five-match road trip that began in Kentucky. USC was without starting junior OPP Emilia Weske for four of those five contests, but the right-side pin-hitter returned to action in the Trojans' win over the Wahine.
 
USC is led by grad OH Brooke Botkin. The fifth-year hitter has produced double-digit kills in all eight matches this season and ranks fifth in the Pac-12 for kills (4.10 kps). Senior setter Raquel Lázaro keeps climbing the USC record books for career assists and ranks second in the league for service aces (0.47 saps).

MATCH #9 • Friday, September 17 • 6 p.m. PT
USC (4-4) vs. No. 21 San Diego (5-2)
Galen Center • Los Angeles, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 12-3 (.800)
LAST MEETING: L 2-3 (Sept. 9, 2019 • San Diego, Calif.)
STREAK: Lost 2 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 7-3
TV/STREAM: Pac-12 Insider (Paul Duchesne)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: USDToreros.com

FIRST SERVE

  • USC is under the direction of second-year head coach Brad Keller who has also served as an assistant coach for the USC men's volleyball team.
  • Gr. OH Brooke Botkin was named to the Preseason All-Pac-12 Team.
  • Pac-12 head coaches picked USC to finish sixth in a preseason poll.
  • Sr. S Raquel Lázaro ranks second in the Pac-12 for service aces (0.47 saps).
  • USC and San Diego meet for the 16th time but only for the eighth time in the regular season. The Trojans are 10-1 against the Toreros at home and are 7-1 when they meet USD in the NCAA tournament.
  • The last five meetings between USC and USD have ended in either three or five sets. The Trojans are 2-1 in three-setters and 1-1 in the five-set contests.
  • USC plays nine of its first 13 matches away from home this season. It will have been 20 days between home contests when USC meets USD on Sept. 17.
  • The Women of Troy are 173-46 (.790) all-time at Galen Center since 2006.

LAST TIME OUT: USC closed a five-match road trip with two against Hawai'i on the islands. The Trojans dropped a tough four-setter to the Wahine in the first meeting. In the rematch, USC came out and used a big third-set comeback to bottle up a four-set win. OH Brooke Botkin recorded her 30th-career double-double while setter Raquel Lázaro notched her 41st and 42nd-career double-doubles. 
 

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