USC sweeps Cougars, UW awaits

After the USC women’s volleyball team saw its two-week road trip and 11-match winning streak end with a rare loss last week, the friendly confines of the Galen Center proved to be the perfect environment to get the team back on track.

Smooth sailing · Senior middle blocker Alexis Olgard recorded eight kills and a .889 hit percentage in USC’s 3-0 win over Washington State. – Anna Schwartz | Daily Trojan

The Women of Troy felt no lingering effects of their setback at Arizona and recovered to beat the Washington State Cougars 3-0 (25-18, 25-13, 25-19) Friday night to improve to 18-2 and 8-1 in Pac-12 play.

“Anytime you win 3-0 in this conference, you’ve done pretty well,” USC head coach Mick Haley said. “We’ve defended well in this building, so it’s doubly hard for a team that’s rebuilding like Washington State. The score doesn’t reflect how long the rallies went in the first two sets, and I think we ran them out of gas even though they played well.”

Sophomore outside hitter Samantha Bricio once again led the USC attack with 12 kills and 12 digs, her fourth double-double of the season. Freshman outside hitter Ebony Nwanebu added 11 kills while hitting .385, and senior middle blocker Alexis Olgard was strong down the middle with eight kills and no errors (.889 hitting percentage).

“We played well and bounced back from a tough loss at Arizona,” senior libero Natalie Hagglund said. “That’s always hard to do. I think we distributed the ball very well and our defense is getting better.”

The first set opened with little wiggle room as USC held an 11-10 lead. The Women of Troy took over with seven points in the next nine rallies, culminating in a kill by junior outside hitter Emily Young that gave them an 18-12 lead. Young knocked down another kill to bring up set point at 24-18 before a Nwanebu strike sealed the set 25-18.

USC gained more separation in the middle frame, going up 12-6 on a Nwanebu kill. The Cougars pushed back but the Women of Troy held them in check, later increasing their lead to 21-12 with Olgard taking a quick pass to knock a kill down the middle. WSU failed to put a dent in the lead and USC won the set 25-13 when Nwanebu combined on a block with sophomore middle blocker Kiara Wright.

USC took care of business in the third set, withstanding a frantic WSU attack to take the set 25-19. After a Wright kill gave USC match point, the Cougars saved two points before Nwanebu ended it with her 11th kill.

The defense was particularly stellar in the first two sets, holding WSU to hitting percentages of .065 and .077, respectively.

“We stayed patient. I remember the first rally of the first game was really long,” junior setter Hayley Crone said. “We were able to win the long rallies, which helped our momentum.”

With the win over Arizona, the Women of Troy pushed their home winning streak to 16. The last time USC lost a home match was Sept. 21 against Oregon. Last season, the Women of Troy finished an outstanding 17-1 at home and are 6-0 at the Galen Center this season. In Washington’s most recent visit to USC, the Women of Troy were victorious in a thrilling five-set win.

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