Top-seeded Trojans begin road to Omaha
The women’s volleyball team begins its bid for the NCAA championship in Thursday’s first round NCAA tournament match against Cleveland State. The Trojans, who were Pac-12 co-champions with Washington, are the top seed in the tournament and the No. 1 team in the nation.
The Trojans enjoyed an impressive regular season, finishing with a 30-2 overall record. Now, head coach Mick Haley, who was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year Tuesday, is excited to see what his team will bring to the court in the postseason.
“We’ve had three good days of practice,” he said. “We are finally starting to get back in rhythm.”
There were only two blips in USC’s three-month march to the Pac-12 crown, but one of them was bitterly disappointing, as the Women of Troy dropped a five-set heartbreaker to crosstown rival UCLA last week. The defeat was USC’s first home loss of the season, and it meant the team lost sole possession of the conference championship.
Haley said the team was out of sync throughout the match against the Bruins and personally took much of the blame, admitting that he didn’t put his squad in the best position to edge the critical fifth set.
“I told the players it was on me and to keep fighting,” he said. “And they did that against Cal [last Friday].”
Now, after a rebound win and a strong week of practice, the team looks to find its rhythm when it matters most.
“It’s a mental game,” freshman setter Baylee Johnson said. “Once we start passing well, we start setting well, and then it’s easy to get in rhythm.”
The consensus at the Galen Center seemed to be that the Trojans need to get back in sync, so Haley was pleased to have an extended period of time at home to practice in the week leading up to the tournament.
“We’ve been struggling because we couldn’t practice,” he said. “When you can’t practice and your body is sore and tired, you just have to compete.”
Nevertheless, Haley praised his players for their fighting spirit throughout the grueling schedule. In addition to Haley’s award, the Women of Troy have racked up a stack of accolades this season, including for senior outside hitter Samantha Bricio, who was named Pac-12 Player of the Year.
“I could make a case for [junior setter Alice] Pizzasegola and [freshman libero Victoria] Garrick, and that would have meant every one of our players would have been recognized [by the Pac-12],” Haley said.
Senior middle blocker Alicia Ogoms and sophomore opposite hitter Brittany Abercrombie were named to the Pac-12 All-Conference Team alongside Bricio, while junior middle blocker Elise Ruddins, junior libero Taylor Whittingham and freshman outside hitters Alyse Ford and Baylee Johnson were honorable mentions. Ford and Johnson also made the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team.
The highly decorated squad will look to earn the ultimate team honor later in the month, but the Women of Troy begin their road to Omaha at home against Cleveland State. The Vikings finished the season with a 26-6 record, including their run to the Horizon League championship. The last meeting between USC and CSU came over three decades ago, when the Trojans claimed a two-set sweep over the Vikings in the only meeting in the two programs’ history.
The winner between USC and Cleveland State will face off against the winner of Thursday’s early matchup between San Diego and Northern Arizona — all three matches are in the Galen Center. The next rounds move on to San Diego, before the championship in Omaha.
The team knows, however, that it will be six more punishing games if everything goes according to plan. With high expectations as well as media attention as No. 1 seeds, the Women of Troy aim to stay focused and grounded all the way through the next few weeks.
“We’re trying to stay together as a team,” Ogoms said. “We’re going to try to stay focused on what we came here to do. We’re going to try to win every game that’s in front of us.”
First serve between USC and the Vikings will be at 7:30 p.m. at the Galen Center.
They are a big loss, but Brittany, Ruddins, Bailey, Garrik and Ford, who will be an incredible back row player next season, plus the incredible group of incoming freshmen and the remaining girls who red shirted this year will make a very strong team. Is that the worst run-on sentence you have ever seen or what! And don’t forget about Jordan, a 6’4 middle blocker. Wow, another pac12 championship awaits. Stanford and Wash graduate their very best players. We got this.
They better do something big this year . Losing Bricio and Ogams will leave the team in a poor position for next season. Maybe the two front line freshman players will bring a new spark.