USC Women's Volleyball Falls to No. 8 Washington in Narrow Four-Set Loss

LOS ANGELES – The USC women's volleyball team (10-10, 6-5 Pac-12) was felled by eighth-ranked Washington (16-3, 9-2) in a tightly-contested four-set loss (28-26, 28-26, 19-25, 25-23) at Galen Center on Friday, Oct. 29.
 
KEY PLAYERS

• Jr. OH Kalen Owes put up her first double-double of the season (fourth of her career) with a career-high 19 kills to go with 10 digs. Owes hit .326 with just four errors on 46 swings.
• Gr. OH Brooke Botkin had 15 kills (3e, 37att) and hit .324 to go with eight digs and two blocks (one solo).
• Jr. OPP Emilia Weske added 12 kills with three digs and two blocks.
• Gr. MB Candice Denny racked up her fifth double-digit kills match of the year with 10 (2e, 19att) on a .421 hitting percentage and had five blocks (two solo). Denny also served the Trojans' only ace of the match.
• Fr. MB Tyrah Ariail had nine kills (3e, 13att) and hit .462 with four blocks.
• Fr. S Mia Tuaniga posted her fifth straight double-double with career highs in assists (54), digs (14), and blocks (5).
• Gr. LIB Shannon Scully put up 13 digs and Sr. DS Kylie Baumert had nine digs.
• For Washington, Samantha Drechsel hit .404 and finished with 22 kills to lead the Huskies' offense. Claire Hoffman had 13 kills with five blocks. Ella May Powell had a double-double with 42 assists and 11 digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Trojans out-hit the Huskies, .301 to .204; had more kills (68-55); more blocks (12.0-11.5); and more digs (64-53). Washington had eight service aces to the Trojans' one and had fewer errors from the service line (15-5).
• USC led the first set by as many as five points, but the Huskies came back and took set point at 24-22. USC pushed back and saved set point three times before Washington closed out a 28-26 win. Owes had seven of her kills in the opening set and USC out-hit UW, .250 to .188, but seven service errors did the Trojans in.
• The second set was tied 15 times and USC had set-point chances four times before UW scored the last three points to seal another 28-26 win. Drechsel had eight kills in the frame, but Weske (6), Owes (5), and Denny (4) combined for 15 of the Trojans' 19 second-set kills. This time, USC out-hit UW, .295 to .212.
• The Women of Troy gave no quarter in the third and raced out to a lead as large as seven points. Washington closed the gap to three, but the Trojans got seven more kills from Owes and four from Botkin en route to a dominant 25-19 win. USC hit .405 with 20 kills to Washington's .308 with 11 kills.
• USC led in the fourth by as many as three points and got five kills from Botkin and four blocks as a team. But Washington took advantage of each Trojan error to force the fifth tie of the set at 20-all. The Huskies maintained control the rest of the way despite three more ties to score a 25-23 win to end the match. 

UP NEXT

• The Trojans return to action against No. 22 Washington State (13-8, 7-4) on Sunday (Oct. 31) at 1 p.m. PT. The Trojans and Cougars will be shown live on Pac-12 Insider.

MATCH NOTES

• USC fell to 43-32 all-time against Washington and to 24-12 in home matches. It was the Trojans' fourth straight loss to the Huskies, who have an active nine-match winning streak. 
• The Women of Troy fell to 4-5 at home this season and to 175-50 all-time at Galen Center.

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.