Women’s volleyball preps for top 25 pair


Junior outside hitter Alyse Ford leaps to spike a ball past two defenders in a game against Arizona at the Galen Center. Photo by Alex Zhang | Daily Trojan

The No. 17 USC women’s volleyball team takes on two more top 25 matches at home this week. The Trojans host No. 15 Utah on Thursday and No. 25 Colorado on Saturday.

The Women of Troy (18-7, 10-4 Pac-12) carry a three-match win streak into two of their final three home matches of the season after sinking Arizona State 3-1 and narrowly escaping Arizona 3-2. This is the third occasion this season that the team has put together a three-match win streak.

The team should have a good shot at extending its win streak to five matches — tying its longest of the season — as the Trojans are 8-1 at home on the season.

Last time the Women of Troy and the Utes (18-7, 9-5 Pac-12) met, the Trojans edged out the Utes 3-2 in Salt Lake City. Utah enters the Galen Center having swept Washington State before losing to Washington the previous weekend. Utah is offense-heavy as it is once again led by Adora Anae (4.21 kills per set) who put up 14 kills against USC the last time they played. She is joined by Carly Trueman (2.72 kills per set), Berkeley Oblad (2.47 kills per set) and Tawnee Luafalemana (1.96 kills per set) to steer the Utes’ offense. Both Luafalemana and Oblad also lead the Utes in blocks per set at 1.18 and 1.12, respectively. Utah is hoping to bounce back this week against USC and UCLA after a 1-1 split last week.

After Utah, Colorado (19-6, 9-5 Pac-12) makes its way to the Galen Center to play the Trojans. The last time the Women of Troy and the Buffaloes met, the Buffaloes completed a 3-0 sweep in Boulder. In that game, Brittany Abercrombie was the only Trojan to record a double-digit kill at 12, and the team collectively hit .067 to couple with 23 errors. This time around, the Women of Troy are looking to turn the tables on the Buffaloes. The Buffaloes are led by Alexa Smith, who sports a 4.07 kills per set and struck for eight kills in the previous matchup against USC. Frankie Shebby (3.34 kills per set), Naghede Abu (2.15 kills per set), Joslyn Hayes (2.04 kills per set) and Anna Pfefferle (1.59 kills per set) are all dependable attacking threats. Setter Brynna DeLuzio is currently averaging 11.06 assists per set and delivered 37 assists last time against USC.

To pick up two more wins at home, USC will need continued strong performances from its pin hitters. Sophomore outside hitter Khalia Lanier, who returned to playing this past weekend, is a dependable hitter. This past weekend, she put up 36 kills in the team’s two wins which was the team-high. Freshman outside hitter Brooke Botkin has been a strong addition to the powerful Women of Troy offense. Botkin tallied 19 kills in the team’s wins against the Arizona schools.

On the opposite side, senior opposites Abercrombie and Niki Withers continue to play well. Abercrombie had 23 kills despite hitting .153 over the weekend. Withers had 13 kills over the weekend with 11 coming against Arizona. Abercrombie is averaging 3.15 kills per set and Withers is averaging 2.60 kills per set on the season, and the two should seek to continue their consistent play this week.

Setters Reni Meyer-Whalley and Cindy Marina continue to run an effective offense, generating 43 assists against Arizona State and 52 assists against Arizona. The two are averaging a combined 11.56 assists per set, and both have been effective at taking turns in setting up attacking opportunities for the rest of the team.

The Women of Troy will play No. 15 Utah at 6 p.m. on Thursday and No. 17 Colorado at 1 p.m. on Saturday.