Match Results
- #12 USC def. #16 Utah 3-1, (25-21, 25-17, 18-25, 25-22)
- USC improves to 19-7, 11-4 Pac-12, Utah falls to 18-8, 9-6 Pac-12
- Los Angeles, California
- Attendance: 601
- Match Stats
USC fought through four sets to take down Utah for their fourth straight win while Utah has fallen five times in their past six matches. In all-time meetings between the two squads, the Trojans lead the Utes 18-3 with USC sweeping this season series.
Trojan head coach, Mick Haley won his 1,299th career match with the win over Utah.
The match between the two teams was riddled with errors, as the Utes committed 23 hitting errors and USC had 24. From the serving line, the Trojans had 15 errors but five aces while Utah had two aces and nine errors. With all the errors from both sides, USC did out-hit the Utes 56-44 with a more balanced offense including four players in double-digit kills.
Khalia Lanier led the Trojans with 17 kills and nine digs while Brittany Abercrombie added another 16 kills. Niki Withers and Brooke Botkin each posted 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Setter Reni Meyer-Whalley dished out 32 assists and 12 digs for her ninth double-double of the season while Victoria Garrick picked up a match-best 19 digs.
For the Utes, Adora Anae led the way with 15 kills and 18 digs for a double-double while setter Bailey Choy accomplished the same feat with 32 assists and 11 digs. Also picking up double-digit digs was Brianna Doehrmann with 15.
Press Release
Courtesy of USC Athletics
The 17th-ranked USC women’s volleyball team (19-7, 11-4 Pac-12) defeated No. 15 Utah (18-8, 9-6) in four sets (25-21, 25-17, 18-25, 25-22) at Galen Center on Thursday, Nov. 9. The Women of Troy won their fourth straight match and handed the Utes their fifth loss in six contests.
The Trojans were led by sophomore outside hitter Khalia Lanier who had 17 kills (3e, 46att) and hit .304 in the match to go with nine digs and a block. Senior opposite hitter Brittany Abercrombie collected 16 kills (6e, 45att) with a .222 hitting percentage and had three digs and three blocks. Senior opposite Niki Withers added 11 kills (4e) on 24 swings for a .292 hitting rate with three blocks.
Freshman outside hitter Brooke Botkin tallied 10 kills (4e, 27att, .222) and had four digs, three blocks (one solo), and a service ace in the match. Senior middle blocker Jordan Dunn led all players with seven blocks and had two kills.
The Women of Troy hit .203 as a team and had 56 kills (24e) on 158 attempts. Senior setter Reni Meyer-Whalley dished out 32 assists to go with 12 digs to score her ninth double-double of the season (18th of her career). Sophomore setter Cindy Marina had 15 assists with seven digs and served up three aces. Junior libero Victoria Garrick had 19 digs to lead all players and picked up three assists.
For the Utes, Adora Anae led the way with 15 kills, but had 11 errors on 44 swings for a .091 hitting rate. Anae led Utah with 18 digs for a double-double. Kenzie Koerber had nine kills (1e, 26att, .308) to go with six blocks (one solo) and Berkeley Oblad scored six kills (5e, 14att, .071) to go with four blocks. Utah hit .154 in the match (44k, 23e, 136att).
The first set was tied for the 10th time when the Trojans and the Utes traded service errors, but Withers went crosscourt for a kill and then Lanier earned a kill out of the pipe for a 21-19 USC lead. The teams traded points once more before Dunn’s overpass kill set the Trojans up at 23-21 before Abercrombie tipped one and went down the line for another to close out a 25-21 USC win. The Trojans hit .238 in the opening frame and got six kills from Abercrombie to secure the win.
The Trojans never trailed in the second set and were tied just once at nine-all. Marina’s service ace put USC on top by three, 14-11, but a 4-0 run with kills by Lanier, Withers, and back-to-back blocks by Dunn pushed USC ahead by six at 18-12. The Utes made a push and trimmed the lead to five once, but Botkin and Lanier racked up consecutive kills for a 22-15 Trojan lead. Lanier earned another kill before a Utah error set the Trojans up with set point at 24-16. The Utes saved one before Lanier crushed another crosscourt shot for the final kill in a 25-17 win. USC hit .297 in the second set to outpace Utah’s .062 outing.
Utah used a 4-0 run to build a five-point lead at 11-6 in the third set and never looked back. The Ute lead ballooned to eight at 15-7, and was eight again at 19-11 on another Anae kill. The Trojans made moves to trim the lead to five on consecutive kills by Abercrombie and Botkin, but Koerber’s crosscourt termination ended a 25-18 win for Utah. The Utes scored on four blocks in the third set and held the Women of Troy to a .188 hitting rate while hitting .367 themselves.
Botkin scored four of her kills in the span of six rallies to help the Trojans break the seventh tie of the fourth set and take a 12-8 lead. USC kept the Utes at bay and extended that lead to six points at 20-14 on a block by Botkin and junior middle blocker Brittany Welsh. Utah was unfazed as it chipped away to reclaim all but one point and trailed the Trojans, 23-22, when Anae earned a kill and the Trojans went long. Out of system on the next rally, Garrick set Withers for the kill and match point before Dunn and Abercrombie met at the net to turn away the final Utah attack and seal a 25-22 win in the fourth set for the Trojans.
Up next, the Women of Troy host 25th-ranked Colorado (19-6, 9-5 Pac-12) on Saturday, Nov. 11, for a 1 p.m. PT first serve at Galen Center. The match will be shown live on the Pac-12+ streaming platform.
For more information on the USC women’s volleyball team and a complete schedule and results, please visit USCTrojans.com. Fans of the Women of Troy can follow @USCWomensVolley on Periscope, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram.
MATCH NOTES
- USC improved to 18-3 in all-time meetings with Utah and swept the season series against the Utes.
- The Trojans won their fourth straight match; the second time this season that USC has had a streak of that length.
- The Women of Troy improved to 9-1 at the Galen Center this season (148-31 all-time).
- The victory is the Trojans’ sixth over a ranked opponent this season; each time as the lower-ranked team.
- USC’s win is the 1,299th career victory for head coach Mick Haley; a total that includes wins at Kellogg Community College with both the men’s and women’s varsity teams.
- Senior setter Reni Meyer-Whalley had 32 assists and 12 digs to record her ninth double-double of the season and the 18th of her career.
- Sophomore setter Cindy Marina matched her season high with three service aces.
Press Release
Courtesy of Utah Athletics
The Utah Utes (18-8, 9-6) snapped a two-match road winning streak against USC, falling to the Trojans (19-7, 11-4) in four sets (21-25, 17-25, 25-18, 22-25) Thursday evening at the Galen Center.
Adora Anae and Kenkie Koerber combined to register six of Utah’s 11 kills in the first set, but USC took the frame 25-21 to take a 1-0 lead. Anae’s first kill tied the match at 7-7, but USC would later follow with a 6-0 run and take a 13-8 lead. Utah’s 8-3 run notched the set up at 16-16, but the Trojans scored nine of the final fourteen points to take the frame.
The Trojans took a 2-0 lead into intermission following a 25-17 win in set two. USC opened the frame winning the first two points and never looked back. Minus a 4-0 run from the Utes, which tied the set at 9-9, USC would take control of the set following a 9-3 run to push their lead to 18-12. The Trojans would tally a couple of service errors to give sideout to the Utes, but USC closed out the frame winning three of the final four points to take the two-set lead into the locker rooms.
USC took the first point of the third set, but it was all Utah after that and the Utes would take the frame 25-18 to force a fourth set. Back-to-back blocks from Koerber opened a 6-2 run and later, a kill from Bailey Choyhelped begin an 8-1 run, giving Utah a 15-7 lead. USC countered late in the frame with a 4-1 run, which forced the Utes to call timeout, but kills from Carly Trueman, Tawnee Luafalemana and Koerber closed out the frame.
Utah and USC traded points to open the fourth set and with the match tied at 7-all, the Trojans would use a 7-2 run to take a 14-9 lead. The Utes countered going point-for-point with the Trojans until a 3-0 run pushed Utah’s lead to 20-14 and forcing Utah to call its final timeout of the set. A kill from Dani Barton, followed by a block from Koerber would give Utah a 3-0 run and force USC to call timeout, and the Utes wouldn’t stop there, later going on a 4-1 run to pull within a point, down 23-22, and forcing USC to call its final timeout. Despite the comeback, USC would win the final two points to take the frame and the match.
Anae led the way with 15 kills and 18 digs to record the 60th double-double of her career. Koerber followed with nine kills, six total blocks and a team-high .308 hitting percentage, but the Utes would hit just .154 as a team. Choy notched a double-double with 32 assists and 11 digs. Brianna Doehrmann chipped in with 15 digs.
USC hit .203 and was led by Brittany Abercrombie’s match-high 16 kills on the evening. Victoria Garric tallied a match-high 19 digs for the Trojans.
Utah will close out its week in SoCal taking on UCLA tomorrow night. First serve between the Utes and Bruins is set for 8 p.m. MT at the Wooden Center.
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