USC sweeps weekly conference awards


After remaining undefeated in conference play this past week, the No. 2 USC women’s volleyball team (14-1, 4-0 Pac-12) swept all Pac-12 Player of the Week honors for matches played Sept. 30 to Oct. 6.

Senior middle blocker Alexis Olgard and senior libero Natalie Hagglund were named the conference’s offensive and defensive players of the week, while freshman outside hitter Ebony Nwanebu was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week for the second consecutive week. All three players were instrumental in USC’s two wins over Cal and No. 7-ranked Stanford.

Olgard was the Women of Troy’s most consistent offensive weapon, putting up 31.5 total points with 24 kills and a .590 hitting percentage. She also had only one error on 39 total attempts and was the catalyst of the team’s eight-point comeback in the third set against Stanford to complete the sweep of the Cardinal. In the match, she had nine kills on a .643 hitting percentage and also totaled five blocks. Olgard notched a career-high in kills (15) and points (19.5) against the Golden Bears.

On the season, Olgard has 103 total kills, good for fourth-most on the team, and her .452 hitting percentage is the highest mark of all USC players and ranks second in the Pac-12. As a junior last season, Olgard had 223 kills and posted a team-leading .394 hitting percentage

Hagglund came away with defensive honors after averaging just over five digs per set in USC’s two latest wins. She recorded 14 digs in the Women of Troy’s three-set win over the Cardinal and caught fire during in the                                                                      five-set thriller against Cal, notching 28 digs. With yet another stellar week, Hagglund is inching closer to the 2,000 career digs milestone, and if she gets there, she would be only the second USC player ever to do so.

Hagglund’s season average of 4.77 digs per set currently leads the Pac-12.

Completing the sweep of the Pac-12’s weekly awards, Nwanebu was deemed the conference’s top freshman for her phenomenal performance last week, in which she posted back-to-back double-digit kill matches with 13 against Stanford and a career-high 21 against Cal. Nwanebu also recorded seven blocks for USC, two against Stanford and five against Cal.

Nwanebu has 156 kills on the season, good for second most among all USC players. She also ranks third on the team in blocks, with 40, trailing only Olgard and junior middle blocker Hannah Schraer.

This marks only the second time that the Women of Troy have swept the weekly conference awards, with the first time being exactly one year ago.

Aside from player achievements, USC head coach Mick Haley notched career win No. 1,100 last week.

USC gets back on the road this week for four straight matches away from the Galen Center. The team will make the trip up to the Pacific Northwest to take on the Oregon schools on Oct. 11 and Oct. 13.

 

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