USC Women’s Volleyball Drops Five-Setter to No. 21 San Diego

LOS ANGELES – The USC women's volleyball team (4-5) fell to No. 21-ranked San Diego (6-2) in a hard-fought five-set match (25-22, 20-25, 13-25, 25-19, 15-13) at Galen Center on Friday, Sept. 17, to close the non-conference portion of its schedule.
 
KEY PLAYERS

• Gr. OH Brooke Botkin led the Women of Troy with 20 kills (9e, 52att, .212) and posted her third double-double of the season (31st career) with 12 digs.
• Jr. OPP Emilia Weske added 18 kills (7e, 40att, .275) and had three blocks.
• Sr. setter Raquel Lázaro put up her 43rd career double-double (fourth of the season) with 58 assists and 13 digs; and had one of the Trojans' three service aces and two blocks.
• Gr. MB Candice Denny racked up a season-high—and most as a Trojan—14 kills (4e, 23att) and hit .435 with a team-high six blocks (one solo). 
• Gr. LIB Shannon Scully dug up 18 balls and posted six assists.
• For San Diego, Grace Frohling led with 19 kills (6e, 42att, .310) and had seven blocks and two service aces. Kylie Pries had 11 kills (6e, 39att, .128) with four blocks. Annie Benbow led all players with 19 digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Both teams hit poorly in the opening set. While USC outpaced San Diego, .122 to .114, the Toreros had a better sideout percentage and came away with a 25-22 win.
• The Trojans came out and out-hit USD, .250 to .111 in the second frame and broke away at the end to get a 25-20 win. USC was a well-oiled machine in the third and posted a .424 hitting rate with 19 kills to go on top, 2-1.
• San Diego broke the 11th tie of the fourth and walked away with a 25-19 win to force set five. Despite going down, 9-5, the Trojans came back to take a 13-12 lead in the final set, but the Toreros scored the last three points to close out the 15-13 victory and the 3-2 win in the match.

UP NEXT

• The Women of Troy open Pac-12 play with four straight road contests and start at crosstown rival UCLA on Wednesday (Sept. 22) at 7 p.m. PT. The Trojans and Bruins will be shown live on Pac-12 Networks.

MATCH NOTES

• USC fell to 12-4 all-time against San Diego and have lost three straight matches to the Toreros.
• The Trojans dropped to 173-47 all-time at Galen Center and to 2-2 in home matches this season.
• Three of USC's five non-conference losses have been in five-set matches. The Trojans fell to 142-97 in all-time five-set matches, including 56-36 in home five-setters. USC also goes to 2-8 in its last 10 five-set matches.
• For the seventh time this season, the Trojans out-hit and produced more kills than their opponent. USC fell to 4-3 overall in such matches. 

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.