USC takes on UC Irvine in home opener
The Women of Troy entered the season ranked No. 1 in the nation and expected to hold that spot until season’s end. What they did not expect, however, was an early-season loss to formerly No. 9-ranked San Diego that sent them toppling down to No. 5.
First line of defense · Senior middle blocker Alexis Olgard (1) and junior setter Hayley Crone (4) are key to the Women of Troy’s blocking. – Daily Trojan file photo
But that’s what they got, and after three grueling road tournaments, the USC women’s volleyball team will make its long-awaited return to the Galen Center on Wednesday to host UC Irvine.
The Women of Troy will square off against the Anteaters Wednesday and Cal State Fullerton Friday before beginning conference play next Wednesday against UCLA.
Despite suffering its first loss of the season, USC rebounded with a strong showing in the Saturday doubleheader, posting a 3-1 victory over UC Santa Barbara before knocking off Eastern Washington in a three-set sweep to improve to 8-1.
“We’re taking a slow and very focused approach in trying to get our team better,” USC head coach Mick Haley said. “I expect Irvine to be good. They played well against us last spring. I expect them to come ready to play.”
Successful offseason recruiting and back-to-back sweeps of its opening two tournaments earned the Women of Troy their No. 1 ranking, and the team has received important contributions from seniors and freshmen alike. It is this hype that has motivated opponents to deliver stiff competition.
“Every team so far has tried to pick on something, so I’m sure [Irvine] will find something to pick on,” Haley said. “Those are the challenges that help us get better if we accept them. I feel like they’ll have a game plan and come after us and try to win this match.”
A combined 24 kills from freshman outside hitter Ebony Nwanebu and senior middle blocker Alexis Olgard proved not to be enough on Friday against the Toreros, as the defense failed to contain a powerful USD attack. The team rebounded quickly, however, with unyielding performances against UC Santa Barbara and Eastern Washington that saw the Women of Troy drop just one of seven sets.
Senior libero Natalie Hagglund was named to an all-tournament team after recording 61 digs in the three matches, including 28 in the victory over Santa Barbara. She was joined by freshman Elise Ruddins, who notched a stellar 24 kills against UCSB and 14 against Eastern Washington to lead the team in both games.
Class standing has proven to be immaterial to USC’s success, as virtually all of Haley’s lineup combinations have produced excellent results against a wide array of opponents.
“We tried to employ a system at the beginning of the season where the upperclassmen were supposed to be leaders and the lowerclassmen would be followers,” Hagglund said. “But it’s actually switched a little bit. The younger players are developing their own leadership roles and bringing their own positive aspects of their game to the team.”
Haley, always one to emphasize improvement, noted that opponents are just as focused on USC’s strengths as he is, which will add to the difficulty of the team’s matches going forward.
“It will be a challenge for us, and it will be fun for us to play at home,” Haley said.
“I hope we serve very well, and I’m hoping to have our passing be improved. I’m looking forward to seeing how our blocking holds up because we’ve been working very hard with our blocking.”
It remains to be seen how well the team’s current dynamic will fare against strong conference opponents, but Haley is optimistic about his team’s prospects.
“This week is our last week before the conference,” Haley said. “We have two matches, and we need to be improving through each of them. I’ve got players challenging for playing time, so that will also be an interesting thing to watch.”
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The bottom line is the national playoffs that shows what kind of year the team had. Probably a half-dozen teams
from the Pac – 12 will make the tournament so rankings mean little during the season. The Trojans have only one
good win this pre-conference vs. Purdue back there. Losing to San Diego in only four sets is very disheartening.
Think Haley is making a mistake a la Kiffin in using two setters in every match where you need repetition to gain
confidence in placement of the ball for the hitters.
that should say who almost**** lost to San Diego. Texas did beat San Diego in 5 sets. But nonetheless, San Diego is a very good squad.
I don’t understand the cockiness of USC. I hate the tone in athletic articles and even this one. “USC was stunned by San Diego”
No, USC was beaten by a very good San Diego team. They were expected by many to win that game.
USC did NOT start the season ranked #1.. That was Texas, who also lost to San Diego.
Which means, USC’s loss to San Diego shouldn’t become that much of a surprise (currently San Diego is ranked #2 in the nation)
As for your picture, Hayley Crone doesn’t even play in the front row this year. Yet you say Crone’s blocking is ‘key’ for the Women of Troy this year.
It wasn’t expected for USC to go undefeated and be #1 the whole year. Have you followed volleyball recently? It’s nearly impossible to go through Pac-12 play undefeated, let alone the entire season.
Check your facts.
USC’14