#21 USC Trojans Cruised in Win Over Oklahoma Sooners

MATCH STATS

• #21 USC Defeats Oklahoma (25-17, 26-24, 25-15)
• Team’s Record: USC (7-3), Oklahoma, (9-2)
• USC’s schedule can be found here, and Oklahoma’s here
• Pac 12 Challenge

RECAP

The USC Trojans swept the Oklahoma Sooners last night, which marks the first straight-set defeat of the Sooners this season. USC dominated Oklahoma on the stat sheet with 48 kills to Oklahoma’s 33, a .375 hit percentage to .096, 49 digs to 43, 44 assists to 31, and 8 blocks to the Sooners’ 3. The Sooners did, however, out-ace the Trojans 2 to 1.

Individually, USC had a balanced attack—Khalia Lanier led her team with 13 kills (and hit .250), Brittany Abercrombie had 11 (.526), and both Elise Ruddins (.800) and Niki Withers (.444) had 8. Reni Meyer-Whalley led USC in assists with 24. Trojan Jordan Dunn had the most blocks in the match with 5, and Taylor Whittingham had the most digs with 20.

Oklahoma’s offense was led by Micaela Spann with 8 kills (.238), while Kimmy Gardiner, Marion Hazelwood, Alyssa Enneking, and Madison Ward collected 6 kills apiece. Oklahoma’s Audrey Alford had the most assists in the match with 26. On defense, Hazelwood led the Sooners in blocks with 2, while Gardiner led in digs with 11.

Next up for the USC Trojans in the Pac-12 Challenge is Maryland, who was defeated last night in straight sets by #5 Washington. The two teams will face off tonight at 8pm, and the match will air on the Pac-12 Network. The Sooners will play Maryland this afternoon, and then take on #5 Washington this evening.

PRESS RELEASES

Courtesy of USC Trojan Athletics:

LOS ANGELES — The No. 21-ranked USC women’s volleyball team (7-3) knocked off Oklahoma (9-2) in a 3-0 sweep (25-17, 26-24, 25-15) in the second match of the Pac-12 Challenge at Galen Center on Thursday, Sept. 15. The Women of Troy hit .375 (48k, 9e, 104att) against the Sooners and produced their seventh straight victory in the process. No. 5-ranked Washington (9-0) defeated Maryland (7-3) in straight sets in the tournament’s first match.

USC’s win puts 16th-year head coach Mick Haley on the doorstep of his 400th victory as the Trojans’ head coach. He raised his coaching record at Troy to 399-98 (.802).

Freshman outside hitter Khalia Lanier led the Trojans in scoring with 14.0 points on 13 kills (4e, 36att, .250) to go with three digs and a pair of blocks. Junior opposite hitter Brittany Abercrombie poured in 12.5 points with 11 kills (1e, 19att) and a .526 hitting night to go with three blocks of her own.

Senior middle blocker Elise Ruddins also had three blocks and scored 10.5 points with an efficient .800 hitting performance (0e, 10att) on eight kills. Junior opposite hitter Niki Withers also had eight kills without an error on 18 swings for a .444 hitting percentage. Sophomore outside Alyse Fordadded seven kills (2e, 14att, .357) with seven digs and two blocks.

Defensively, the Trojans were led by senior libero Taylor Whittingham who had a match-high 20 digs. Junior middle blocker Jordan Dunn came through with a match-high five blocks. USC’s setters put up 44 assists. Junior Reni Meyer-Whalley dished out 24 assists to go with four digs while senior Alice Pizzasegola finished with 16 assists and five digs.

For the Sooners, Micaela Spann led with eight kills (3e, 21att, .238). Four other Oklahoma players each had six kills including Kimmy Gardiner who led the Sooners with 11 digs. Audrey Alford put up 26 assists but her team hit just .096 in the match (33k, 22e, 114att).

The first set went back and forth until the Trojans seized control with an 8-1 run to put a 15-10 lead on the board. Dunn got up for three straight blocks, the first two with Abercrombie, and the third with Ford to put set point on the board at 24-16 before Abercrombie sent a shot down the line to sew up a 25-17 win.

USC appeared to be in control of the second set and got out to an 18-14 lead on Withers’ kill, but the Sooners rolled back into the picture thanks to their own 6-3 run and grabbed set point at 24-23. Withers came to the rescue and saved set point before Ford’s kill turned the tables for a 25-24 USC set point. The Sooners committed a final error to seal their fate in a 26-24 decision.

Like it was in the first set, the score was tied five times early on, but the Trojans’ explosive 6-1 run led to an 11-6 advantage for Troy and put the match out of reach. USC’s run included a kill and an ace from Ruddins and a pair of kills by Ford. The Women of Troy continued to push and went ahead by 10 thanks to back-to-back kills from Lanier and Abercrombie at 18-8. Unrelenting, the Trojans stayed on top by 10 at 23-13 on Ruddins’ eighth kill, but the Sooners couldn’t close the gap as Ford’s final kill closed the match.

The Trojans will be back in action at 8 p.m. PT on Friday, Sept. 16, when they face Maryland. The matchup will be shown live on Pac-12 Los Angeles and Pac-12 Network with Chris Marlowe and Tammy Blackburn on the call. Prior to the USC match, Washington and Oklahoma will meet on the court at 5 p.m., a contest that will also be shown live on Pac-12 Network and Pac-12 Washington. In the morning, Oklahoma and Maryland will face off at 11 a.m. PT.

For more information on the USC women’s volleyball team and a complete schedule and results, please visit USCTrojans.com. To purchase season and single-match tickets, please visit USCTrojans.com/tickets today. Fans of the Women of Troy can follow @USCWomensVolley on Periscope, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram.

MATCH NOTES

• USC improved to 5-0 in all-time matches against Oklahoma.
• The Women of Troy extended their winning streak to seven consecutive matches.
• The USC victory brings head coach Mick Haley just one win from reaching his 400th at USC (399-98). It also puts the program at just four wins from reaching the 1,000-win threshold.
• USC posted a season-high .375 hitting percentage (48k, 9e, 104att) against the Sooners.
• Senior L Taylor Whittingham had 20 digs for her ninth match in double digits this season; her fourth at or over the 20-dig mark.

Courtesy of Oklahoma Athletics:

LOS ANGELES – The University of Oklahoma volleyball team lost its opening match of the Pac-12 Challenge at No. 21 Southern California, 3-0, at the Galen Center on Thursday night. The Sooners fell to 9-2, while the Trojans improved to 7-3.

The straight-sets loss marked the first of the season for Oklahoma, which was last swept by a non-conference opponent in 2014 against LSU in the NCAA First Round.

USC’s Khalia Lanier tallied a match-high 13 kills followed by Brittany Abercrombie at 11 kills on a .526 hitting percentage. The Trojans hit .375 as a team with Elise Ruddins leading the way with eight kills and no errors for a .800 attack rate.

Senior middle blocker Micaela Spann(Carrollton, Texas) led the Sooners with eight kills. Four additional players knocked down six kills, including senior outside hitter Kimmy Gardiner (Grapevine, Texas), who picked up a team-high 11 digs.

Reni Meyer-Whalley and Alice Pizzasegola split the setting duties for USC. Meyer-Whalley dished out 24 assists and Pizzasegola collected 18. Taylor Whittingham led all players in digs with 20.

The Sooners are in action twice on Friday beginning at 1 p.m. CT against Maryland and later against No. 5 Washington at 7 p.m. CT.