After splitting the Arizona series last weekend, USC (11-5, 5-1) will face No. 3 Stanford and UC Berkeley when it travels to Northern California this weekend. 

Offensively, outside hitter Skylar Fields leads the Trojans with 321 kills, three times more than the player with the second-most kills, middle blocker Lindsey Miller. In the previous game against Arizona, Fields led everyone with 23 kills. Fields is fourth in the nation with an average of 5.02 kills per set. 

“Super fired up for [Fields] and what she’s been able to do, the workload, the load that she’s taking as far as the amount of swings,” said Head Coach Brad Keller. “Other players are getting better, and we’re getting more tempo.”

Aside from Fields, junior outside hitter Katelyn Smith has racked up 25 of her season-total 48 kills in her last three games. 

“When we’re really consistent with our passing, it kind of leaves everyone open, and [junior setter Mia Tuaniga] can set anyone she wants,” Smith said. “When we check out the other team on who we’re gonna hit, it opens it up for me and the other pin hitters so that they’re not double-blocking us every time.”

Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Tyrah Ariail is third on the team with 104 kills after redshirting her second season. 

“[My teammates] were always supportive through my whole recovery,” Ariail said. “They give me so much grace and they never let me slack, so I’ve really been working hard.”

Junior setter Mia Tuaniga orchestrates the offense and leads the team with 582 assists. Her average of 10.03 assists per set is the 45th-best mark in the nation.

Tuaniga and the Trojans will face off against No. 3 Stanford (13-2, 6-0) Friday at Maples Pavillion. The Cardinal are first in the Pac-12 conference and are coming off a 3-1 victory against No. 4 Washington State, one of six ranked victories for the Cardinal. 

The big three for the Cardinal — fifth-year opposite hitter Kendall Kipp, sophomore outside hitter Elia Rubin and redshirt senior outside hitter Caitie Baird — all have 130 kills or more. Kipp leads the three with 212 kills.  The Cardinal have the second-best offense in the nation, averaging 14.79 kills per set.

“Kendall Kipp is the real deal,” Keller said. “She’s a future national team-type player. They have a bunch of them on their team. And so it’s just a really nice opportunity for us to go up there and see kind of where we are, win, lose or draw.”

Cardinal junior setter Kami Miner leads the nation with an average of 11.96 assists per set. 

“It’s gonna be a good battle,” Smith said. “Last year, we had our ups and downs with them. We almost beat them last year. So I think that going into it, we’re just gonna stay positive.”

The Trojans will face UC Berkeley (12-5, 1-5) Sunday. The Golden Bears are tied for second to last in the Pac-12 but still have a positive overall record thanks to strong non-conference play. Freshman outside hitter Maggie Li has a team-leading 263 kills, which is also the 25th-best mark in the country. Senior outside hitter Sam Taumoepau is close behind with 216 kills.

USC is 67-12 against Cal all-time and has won 14 straight games. Against Stanford, the Trojans are 26-70-1 and have lost 11 straight games. 

The Trojans will face Stanford Friday at 8 p.m. at Maples Pavilion before facing Cal Sunday at 2 p.m. at Haas Pavilion.

Kasey Kazliner contributed to this report