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USC Women’s Volleyball Falls to No. 18 Stanford

by usctrojans.com
Nov 24, 2021

LOS ANGELES – The USC women's volleyball team (14-15, 9-10 Pac-12) fell in straight sets (25-22, 25-18, 25-21) to No. 18 Stanford (17-10, 12-7) at Galen Center on Wednesday, Nov. 24.
 
KEY PLAYERS

  • Jr. OPP Emilia Weske led the Trojans with 17.0 points scored on 14 kills (3e, 23att) with a .478 hitting percentage, three blocks (one solo), and a service ace. It was Weske's 19th double-digit kills match of the season.
  • Gr. MB Candice Denny posted eight kills (1e, 11att) and hit .636 with one block.
  • Gr. OH Brooke Botkin collected eight kills (3e, 25att, .200) and had six digs and two service aces. She is now up to 1,490 career kills and needs 10 more to become only the 11th USC player to cross the 1,500 career kills plateau.
  • Gr. MB Sabrina Smith put in seven kills (1e, 11att) and hit .545 to go with a block.
  • Fr. S Mia Tuaniga dished out 36 assists and had six digs and two kills.
  • Gr. LIB Shannon Scully led the Trojans with 12 digs and had two assists.
  • For Stanford, Kendall Kipp led all players with 25.0 points gained on 22 kills (1e, 35) and .600 hitting. Kipp also had three service aces and three digs. Caitie Baird tallied 14 kills (1e, 30att) for a .433 hitting rate with six digs and two aces. Elena Oglivie led all players with 14 digs. Kami Miner had 46 assists with six digs and a service ace.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • The Trojans went toe-to-toe with the Cardinal and hit .323 (43k, 12e, 96att) to Stanford's .408 (52k, 10e, 103att). USC was edged in digs, 37-36, but had three blocks to Stanford's zero.
  • The first set was tied 12 times before Stanford created the first significant lead. The Cardinal led by as many as four, but USC closed to within two at 23-21 before Stanford won by three. Kipp had eight of her kills in the first set and helped her team hit .432 to USC's .355. Smith tallied five of her kills in the opening frame.
  • USC led early in the second set, 5-2, but the Cardinal used a 10-2 run to seize control of momentum. Stanford created an eight-point lead, but USC continued to fight and closed the gap to five before the Cardinal rallied to close out at 25-18 win behind six more kills from Kipp and four from Baird. For USC, Weske had six kills and Botkin had four.
  • Stanford rolled out to a big eight-point lead at 17-9, but USC fought back and closed to within a single point of the Cardinal at 19-18. The Trojans were within two at 23-21, but Stanford finished off the sweep with the last two points. The Cardinal hit .444 in the third frame with eight more kills from Kipp and six from Baird. USC had 15 kills and out-dug Stanford, 14-12, with three aces, but it wasn't enough to complete the comeback bid. 

UP NEXT

  • USC closes the regular season at Galen Center against crosstown rival No. 13-ranked UCLA (23-4, 16-3 Pac-12) on Friday (Nov. 26) at 7 p.m. The match will be shown live on Pac-12 Network and Pac-12 Los Angeles. The Trojans will honor their senior class in its final home match in ceremonies ahead of the match.

MATCH NOTES

  • USC fell to 26-68-1 all-time against Stanford and to 15-24 in home matches with the Cardinal.
  • Stanford won its ninth straight match in the head-to-head series dating back to 2015.
  • USC and Stanford met for the first time since the 2019 season due to cancelled matches during the 2020-21 season. 
  • The Trojans had a four-match winning streak snapped in the loss.
  • The Women of Troy fell to 7-7 in home matches this season and to 178-52 all-time at Galen Center.
  • USC's loss to Stanford and results of other Pac-12 matches guarantees the Women of Troy will finish in seventh place in the final league standings.

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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