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USC Women's Volleyball Defeats Arizona to Win Third Straight

by usctrojans.com
Oct 17, 2021

TUCSON, Ariz. – The USC women's volleyball team (9-8, 5-3 Pac-12) won its third straight match by defeating Arizona (11-8, 3-5) in four sets (23-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-20) at McKale Center on Sunday, Oct. 17
 
KEY PLAYERS

  • Gr. OH Brooke Botkin recorded her 34th-career double-double (sixth of the season) and shared team-high honors with 14 kills (3e, 42att, .262) to go with 11 digs, a block, and a service ace.
  • Jr. OPP Emilia Weske also had 14 kills (5e, 33att) as she hit .273 with three digs and a pair of service aces.
  • Jr. OH Kalen Owes had her second straight double-digit kills match and finished with 13 (7e, 32att, .188) and five digs.
  • Fr. MB Tyrah Ariail collected eight kills without an error on 12 swings for a .667 hitting percentage.
  • Fr. S Mia Tuaniga had her second double-double of the weekend as she finished with career highs of 47 assists and 14 digs. Tuaniga also scored one kill as she set the Trojans to a .287 hitting rate in the match.
  • Gr. OH Shannon Scully posted a season-high 23 digs (one shy of her career mark) and added five assists.
  • For Arizona, Puk Stubbe had a double-double with a match-high 15 kills (4e, 40att, .275) and 10 digs. Merle Weidt had nine kills and Sofia Maldonado Diaz collected eight kills and 14 digs but hit just .028 in the match. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • USC led by as many as six points in the first set and got five kills from Owes, four from Botkin, and three from Weske. The Wildcats fought back to flip the score for the fifth time and scored the final three points of the set for a 25-23 win.
  • In a complete reversal, Arizona led by five early in set two (11-6), but the Trojans stormed back to take a two-point lead, 16-14, on a 10-3 run. The Wildcats pushed once more to tie the score at 18-all, but the Trojans rolled through a 7-0 run to close out a 25-18 win behind a .320 attack rate led by four kills from Owes and three more from Botkin.
  • Arizona scored the first four points of set three, but USC turned the tables and took four-point leads at 14-10 and 17-13 before the 'Cats tied things up at 19-all. USC hit .389 and needed all six of Weske's kills en route to a 25-22 win for a 2-1 lead in the match. Botkin added four more kills and Owes and Ariail had three apiece.
  • The fourth set was tied 12 times until USC used a 5-0 run to open a 21-16 lead on back-to-back aces from Sr. setter Raquel Lázaro. Later, an 8-2 USC burst gave the Trojans match point at 24-18. Arizona saved a pair of points before Botkin completed the day with her 14th kill to sew up a 25-20 win.

UP NEXT

  • The Trojans return to Galen Center for their next four matches. Next weekend, USC concludes the front half of the Pac-12 schedule with visits from Oregon State (3-15, 1-7 Pac-12) on Friday (Oct. 22) and Oregon (14-4, 5-3) on Sunday (Oct. 24). Friday night's match against the Beavers is a Kids Corner Match. Fans can purchase tickets at USCTrojans.com/tickets.

MATCH NOTES

  • USC improved to 68-22 all-time against Arizona and to 27-15 when the teams meet in Tucson. The Trojans defeat Arizona for the sixth straight time overall dating back to the end of the 2017 season.
  • The Trojans improved to 59-25 all-time in the state of Arizona.
  • The Women of Troy went 2-0 on their regular-season trip to the Copper State for the first time since 2015. Similarly, that year, USC defeated ASU in five sets and Arizona in four sets just as it did this year.
  • USC's third straight win matches the longest winning streak this season earned between Aug. 28 and Sept. 3. 

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.
 

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