USC Women's Volleyball Beats Bears for First Pac-12 Victory

BERKELEY, Calif. – The USC women's volleyball team (5-6, 1-1 Pac-12) scored its first conference win of the season on a four-set victory (25-21, 25-21, 18-25, 25-9) over California (7-6, 0-2) at Haas Pavilion on Sunday, Sept. 26.
 
KEY PLAYERS

• Gr. OH Brooke Botkin led all players with 14 kills and posted her fourth double-double of the season with 11 digs. It was the 32nd-career double-double for Botkin who also had two blocks.
• Gr. Shannon Scully started at outside hitter and collected her first double-double as a Trojan (42nd of her career) as she finished with 10 kills and 13 digs to go with two blocks and a service ace.
• Fr. MB Tyrah Ariail saw her first extended collegiate action and racked up nine kills (2e, 16att) with a .438 hitting percentage and put up six blocks.
• Sr. S Raquel Lázaro posted 42 assists and had eight digs, four blocks, three service aces, and two kills.
• So. LIB Sam Hastings got her first start in the jersey this fall and logged a career-high 27 digs.
• For Cal, Katie Smoot and Leah Schmidt each had seven kills to lead the Bears. Tara DeSa led her team with 25 digs and had two service aces. Bella Bergmark had nine blocks to lead all players and added five kills. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• USC put up 15.0 blocks to hold the Bears to a .023 hitting percentage in the match. Cal never hit above .100 in any set including the one it won (.088, 11k, 8e, 34att). USC also posted 52 kills to the Bears' 30 and out-dug Cal, 70-60.
• The teams went back and forth in the first set with 13 ties and seven lead changes, but the Trojans seized control down the stretch to take a 25-21 win. Neither team hit well, but USC had 14 kills to Cal's eight to get out to a 1-0 start.
• USC never trailed in the second frame and got five kills from Ariail and four from Scully. The Trojans racked up 20 points with 18 kills and two blocks and hit .256 to outpace the Bears' .091 for a second 25-21 win.
• The Women of Troy led by five early in the third (12-7) but Cal used a 7-0 run to flip the scoreboard and never trailed after that. The Trojans got within one at 16-15, but Cal used another run to neutralize the USC attack, which was held to a negative .048 outing. Both teams had five blocks in the third.
• Cal scored the first point of the fourth, but USC used a 17-0 run to roll out to an 18-1 lead. Botkin added four kills while Ariail and Jr. OPP Emilia Weske had three each. USC added four blocks and three service aces to complete a 25-9 win.

UP NEXT

• The Women of Troy head to the Pacific Northwest for matches at Washington State (Friday, Oct. 1) and Washington (Sunday, Oct. 3). The Trojans and Cougars meet at 7 p.m. PT on Friday night and then USC-UW takes place at 1 p.m. PT on Sunday. Both will be shown live on the Pac-12 Networks.

MATCH NOTES

• USC improved to 65-12 all-time against California and extended its winning streak over the Golden Bears to 12 straight.
• The Trojans have defeated the Bears 12 straight times at Haas Pavilion dating back to 2009 and improve to 29-7 as the road team in the all-time series.
• Earlier in the day, USC's men's water polo team also defeated Cal nearby at the Spieker Aquatics Complex. The Trojans won the Mountain Pacific Invitational with a 12-11 victory over the Bears in the title game.

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.