USC Women's Volleyball Edged by No. 17 Oregon in Fifth Straight Five-Setter

EUGENE, Ore. – The USC women's volleyball team (10-14, 6-9 Pac-12) was narrowly defeated by 17th-ranked Oregon (19-6, 10-5) in five sets, 25-22, 25-20, 26-28, 21-25, 15-11, at Matthew Knight Arena on Friday, Nov. 12. It was the fifth straight time the two teams played five sets--all victories by the Ducks--but the first-such home match for Oregon in that stretch.
 
KEY PLAYERS

• Fr. S Mia Tuaniga logged a career-high 61 assists and posted her sixth double-double with 12 digs. She also added two blocks and had one kill.
• Gr. OH Brooke Botkin collected 14 kills (4e, 39att) and hit .256 to go with 16 digs for her seventh double-double of the season (35th career). Botkin also had five blocks (two solo) for a total of 17.5 points.
• Jr. OPP Emilia Weske led USC with 18 kills (7e) and matched her career high with 45 attacks for a .244 hitting percentage and added two blocks (one solo) and seven digs.
• Gr. MB Candice Denny had 11 kills (3e) on a season-high 25 attacks and hit .320 with two blocks. 
• Gr. MB Sabrina Smith tallied eight kills (1e, 14att) for a .500 hitting rate and posted four blocks and four digs.
• Gr. OH Paige Hammons came off the bench and finished with nine kills.
• Gr. LIB Shannon Scully led the Women of Troy with 18 digs while Jr. DS Keila Barra posted 11 with two service aces.
• For Oregon, Brooke Nuneviller had 25 kills and 13 digs for the double-double. Morgan Lewis racked up 14 kills and Gloria Mutiri had 11 kills with six digs. Elise Ferreira had 31 assists and 16 digs. Georgia Murphy led all players with 20 digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The score was tied 12 times and the lead changed five times in the first set, but the Trojans' 22-20 lead didn't hold up as Oregon scored a 5-0 run to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Smith and Jr. OH Kalen Owes led USC with four kills apiece.
• The Ducks flew away with set two as Oregon racked up 18 kills on 35 attempts to hit .429. The Trojans couldn't capitalize on six UO service errors and had just 10 kills in the second frame.
• USC led by as many as four points (20-16) in the third, but Oregon fought back to tie the score at 21-all. The Ducks eventually took match point at 25-24, but the Women of Troy fought on and used a 4-1 run to take a 28-26 win to send the match to set four. Denny and Weske each had five kills to pace the Trojans' 20-kill set (7e, 53att, .245).
• Tied for the 10th time at 15-all, the Trojans stepped on the gas to roll away with a 25-21 win in the fourth. Weske added seven more kills and Botkin had five as USC hit .425 with just one error (18k) on 40 swings. 
• Botkin had three kills to lead the Trojans in the fifth, but Oregon created an early four-point lead at 7-3, and then held on to close out a 15-11 victory behind four kills from Nuneviller. 

UP NEXT

• The Trojans play their final regular-season road match on Sunday (Nov. 14) when they face Oregon State (4-21, 2-13 Pac-12) at Gill Coliseum for a noon PT first serve. The match will be shown live (for free) on Pac-12 Insider.

MATCH NOTES

• USC fell to 55-18 all-time against Oregon and to 28-6 against the Ducks in Eugene.
• Oregon won its fifth straight match over the Women of Troy (all five setters), the longest Duck streak in the all-time series.
• The Trojans go to 56-13 all-time in the state of Oregon and are now 5-7 in road matches this season.
• USC played its sixth five-set match of the season and fell to 1-5 in those contests. The Trojans drop to 143-99 all-time in five-setters with a 64-48 record on the road (7-3 in the state of Oregon).
• Against Oregon specifically, USC went 6-0 in five-set matches between 1988 to 2010, but are 0-5 in the last five five-set meetings with the Ducks (2019-21).

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.