Women of Troy end season undefeated


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The No. 1 Women of Troy made the trip down south to Irvine for their final duals against Concordia and Irvine Valley College before the Pac-12 Invitational. Both duals went well for the Women of Troy as they defeated both teams 5-0. The Women of Troy improved their overall record to 21-0 while IVC fell to 7-5.

With these dual wins, the Women of Troy matched last year’s longest winning streak of 21 wins. Head coach Anna Collier was very pleased with the outcome of the matches.

“We played really well,” said Collier. “We wanted to continue to work on and concentrated on these aspects. I am pleased that the team used these games to work on these aspects and get better.”

In the first match of the day, USC played Irvine Valley College for the first time and they won another 5-0 sweep. All five pairing for the Women of Troy won in straight sets.

The Women of Troy No. 5 pairing Bria Russ and Jenna Belton defeated Taylor Askins and Carleigh Peterson 21-18 and 21-10. The No. 3 pairing Norton and Ettinger won the clinching point for the Women of Troy.     No. 1 pairing Claes and Hughes for the Women of Troy won 21-9 and 21-13, improving their overall record to 30-3.

For the second time this season, the Women of Troy played and defeated Concordia with a score of 5-0. Sophomore No. 1 pairing of Claes and Sarah Hughes defeated the No. 1 pairing of Marissa Boyd and Rachel Flynn by a score of 21-4 and 21-9. The clinching point was achieved by Nicolette Martin and Allie Wheeler, who defeated Kaila Ames and Samantha Palmer by a score of 21-13 and 21-7 on court four.

There were several milestones that were achieved by a few pairings. Claes and Hughes reached the 30th-win mark as a pairing and are only the third pairing in USC history to achieve this. Both pairings of Norton and Ettinger, and Strange and Bukovec reached the 25th-win plateau.

After these two duals, the Women of Troy are set to face off against other Pac-12 teams in Santa Monica on Saturday and Sunday. The Pac-12 invitational will be played at the beach, which will offer different experiences for the Women of Troy.

“I am really looking forward to the competition this weekend,” Collier said. “I am also looking forward to playing on the beach because the National Championship is on the beach and there are different skills that are used on the beach.”

The Women of Troy have a few days of practice before they have to go right back to playing. With 21 straight wins the team has had great momentum during the season and hopes to keep it going during the Pac-12 invitational.

“With such lofty goals, the Women of Troy are headed in the right direction and are now headed into postseason play with their number-one overall ranking,” Collier said. “We have to get back to practice and challenge them once again. We need to create a new notch in the belt and just constantly keep moving.”