Women of Troy spoil UC Irvine’s perfect record


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The No. 15 USC women’s volleyball team continued their recent string of sweeps Tueday night agianst No. 20 UC Irvine (25-16, 25-19, 25-20) at the Galen Center.

UC Irvine (6-0) came into the match with a perfect record and a potential advantage in coach Paula Weishoff, a former USC women’s volleyball champion in 1980 (her jersey number hangs in the risers of the Galen Center) and an assistant for USC coach Mick Haley, Despite whatever inside knowlege Weishoff provided about USC, the Women of Troy would not be denied.

Spreading the wealth · Setter Kendall Bateman finished the match with 38 assists to lead the Women of Troy over UC Irvine. - Brandon Hui | Daily Trojan

Spreading the wealth · Setter Kendall Bateman finished the match with 38 assists to lead the Women of Troy over UC Irvine. - Brandon Hui | Daily Trojan

“I really think we’re getting better,” Haley said. “It’s hard with a middle of the week game when they’re studying, but that’s the same with both teams. I really think if we can keep our focus … [and] get a better execution — those are the things I want to work on.”

The Women of Troy came out strong, starting with senior All-American outside hitter Jessica Gysin’s first kill of the game, but a couple team errors caused the Anteaters to take a one point lead, 6-7.

Gysin, with the help of sophomore outside hitter Alex Jupiter, managed to pick the game back up with a combined six kills to get back their substantial lead. They ended up winning the first set with their lead, 25-16.

The Anteater offense got the best of USC in the next set, but after a botched serve from UCI and a couple kills from Gysin, they tied the game 10-10, and USC used that adrenaline to snag a few kills from Jupiter, Garret and sophomore middle blocker Lauren Williams with two sharp kills, making the winning score 25-19.

In the third set, junior defensive specialist Geena Urango and sophomore Lauren Williams stepped back into the game. Play from was even from both teams a kill and a few digs from Urango sparked a 3-0 run to give the Women of Troy the 13-10 advantage, which gave them enough momentum to win the set 25-20.

The Women of Troy are set to play three matches away from home this weekend in a tournament held in Orem, Utah. USC will face Idaho State on Friday at 1 p.m. and Utah Valley — the host of the tournament — at 7 p.m. USC will play Utah Valley again on Saturday, at 1 p.m.