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USC Women's Volleyball Takes Heat Streak Into Desert Match-Ups

by usctrojans.com
Oct 4, 2022

LOS ANGELES – The USC women's volleyball team (11-4, 3-1 Pac-12) heads to the desert for a pair of Pac-12 match-ups this weekend. The Trojans take on Arizona (11-4, 1-3) on Friday (Oct. 7) in Tucson and then meet up with Arizona State (8-8, 2-2) for a Sunday bout (Oct. 9) in Tempe. The USC-Arizona match will be shown live on Pac-12 Networks and the Trojans-Sun Devils contest will appear on the Pac-12 Insider platform. The Women of Troy are 59-25 all-time in the Copper State and have won four straight road matches there. USC outside hitter Skylar Fields was named the Pac-12's Offensive Player of the Week this week.

MATCH #16 • Friday, October 7 • 7 p.m. PT
USC (11-4, 3-1) at Arizona (11-4, 1-3)
McKale Center • Tucson, Ariz.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 69-22 (.758)
LAST MEETING: W 3-0 (Nov. 19, 2021 • Galen Center)
STREAK: Won 7 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 7-3
TV: Pac-12 Arizona (Brian Webber)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: ArizonaWildcats.com

MATCH #17 • Sunday, October 9 • 1 p.m. PT
USC (11-4, 3-1) at Arizona State (8-8, 2-2)
Desert Financial Arena • Tempe, Ariz.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 73-14-1 (.830)
LAST MEETING: W 3-1 (Nov. 21, 2021 • Galen Center)
STREAK: Won 3 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 9-1
TV/STREAM: Pac-12 Insider
OPPONENT WEBSITE: TheSunDevils.com

FIRST SERVE (TL;DR)

  • USC is led by third-year head coach Brad Keller who has the unique experience of having also served as an assistant for the USC men.
  • The Trojans return just six letterwinners from last year's squad. Four transfers and seven freshmen make up the lion's share of USC's 17-woman roster.
  • USC's win over NMSU (Sept. 15) was the program's 1100th all-time victory.
  • The Trojans are 59-25 all-time in the state of Arizona and have won four straight and seven of their last nine matches in the Copper State.
  • Sr. OH Skylar Fields leads the Pac-12 in kills (259), kills per set (4.71 kps), points (283.5) and points per set (5.15 pps). She is 16th in hitting percentage (.303). Fields was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week this week (Oct. 3).
  • So. S Mia Tuaniga set a new school record with 10 service aces against Colorado (Sept. 30) and recorded only the second rally-scoring era triple-double school history (37 assists, 10 digs, 10 aces). She leads the Pac-12 in aces (33) and aces per set (0.60 saps) and is second in assists (10.85 aps).
  • Fr. LIB Gala Trubint ranks third in the Pac-12 in digs (4.00 dps) and is the top freshman defender in the league. She has 15 double-digit digs matches.

LAST TIME OUT: USC picked up two 3-1 victories with wins over Colorado and Utah and improved to 8-1 in home matches this season. The Trojans also broke a streak of seven losses to the Utes. Against the Buffaloes, Mia Tuaniga set a new school record with 10 service aces (tied for second most in Pac-12 history) and put up only the second triple-double (37 assists, 10 digs, 10 aces) in the rally scoring era of USC history. Skylar Fields was near unstoppable once again as she put up her fifth and sixth 20-plus kill matches of the season. She had 24 against Colorado and then 25 against Utah to equal her season high for the third time. Gala Trubint posted her 15th straight double-digit digs match and served a career-high four aces against the Utes. Kalyah Williams had a career-best nine blocks against Utah. The Trojans' 10 service aces against the Utes marked the fourth time this season that the team has reached double digits from the service line.
 
DESERT DWELLERS: Eight USC players have come from the state of Arizona. OH Jordan Wilson is a native of Phoenix. OH Kalen Owes is also from Phoenix. Two-time All-American OH Khalia Lanier (2016-19) hailed from Scottsdale, Ariz., and three-time All-American MB Emily Adams (2001-04) is from Phoenix. Yvonne Lewis (1984-87) was the first Trojan to come from the Copper State and the only one from Tucson where she prepped at Sahuaro HS. USC is 59-25 all-time in the state of Arizona with a 27-16 record in Tucson and 32-9 in Tempe.

PAC-12 POW(ER)S: USC players have received Pac-12 Player of the Week honors 81 times (fourth all-time). OH Skylar Fields was chosen as the Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 3 for her first-career honor. She was previously named the Big XII Player of the Week twice while at Texas. OPP Emilia Weske won the Pac-12 weekly award on April 5, 2021. Since 2011, when the Pac-12 began honoring separate offensive and defensive players of the week and introduced a freshman award, Trojans have earned 24 offensive awards, 11 defensive awards, and 20 freshman honors. Trojans Samantha Bricio (9), Natalie Hagglund (5), Asia Kaczor (5), and Jennifer Kessy (5) have had the most individual career selections.
 
DOUBLE DOWN: Four Trojans have recorded career double-doubles. Setter Mia Tuaniga owns 12 double-doubles in her career (one triple-double on Sept. 30, 2022, against Colorado). OH Kalen Owes has logged four-career double-doubles and OPP Emilia Weske has had four double-double matches. OH Skylar Fields racked up her first-career double-double in the Trojans' opening weekend at Galen Center and now has four.
 
SKY HIGH: Outside hitter Skylar Fields has posted double-digit kills in all but one of her 15 matches this fall and has recorded more than 20 kills six times. She leads the Pac-12 in kills, kills per set, points, and points per set. She's also one of only 17 players in the conference hitting over .300 and is doing all this damage at a .303 clip. She has matched her season high of 25 kills three times and has posted more than 20 kills in each of her last four outings.
 
GIRL TRIPPIN': On Sept. 30, 2022, Mia Tuaniga put up 37 assists, had 10 digs, and served a USC-record 10 aces in a four-set win over Colorado. It was the first triple-double of her career and only the second produced by a Trojan in the rally-scoring era. Previously, Raquel Lázaro did it on Sept. 7, 2019 against Northern Iowa with 36 assists, 16 digs, and 11 blocks.
 
DIGGIN' DEEP: Libero Gala Trubint ranks third in the Pac-12 for digs (4.00 dps). She is one of only three players in the league to average over four digs per set or more. Trubint has reached double-digit digs in all 15 of the Trojans' matches this fall and is one of the top freshman defenders in the conference. You would have to go all the way down to No. 47 (Elia Rubin, Stanford, 1.89 dps) to find the next freshman to rank in the Pac-12's top 50 for digs.
 
ACE CASE: Setter Mia Tuaniga set a new USC record with 10 service aces against Colorado on Sept. 30. The previous record was eight aces achieved seven times by six different players; most recently by All-American OH Samantha Bricio who had eight against Utah State on Sept. 10, 2015. Tuaniga's total also equaled the second highest in conference history; a mark now shared with Stanford's Teresa Smith (vs. Illinois State, Oct. 9, 1986). It was also the first time a Pac-12 player reached double digits in service aces since 2004 (Sept. 18) when Oregon's Lauren Westendorf set the league record with 12 against Seton Hall.
 

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