As the USC women’s volleyball team enters its first season in the Big Ten, the dominant conference in the sport, Head Coach Brad Keller and the Trojans have a major challenge ahead. In June of 2022, when USC and UCLA made the stunning move to leave the Pacific-12, the Trojan women’s volleyball program appeared to be one of the candidates to suffer the most in its new conference.

USC (9-3, 1-1 Big Ten) went 19-13 last season in Keller’s fourth year at the helm. That was with superstar outside hitter Skylar Fields — who made her second consecutive AVCA All-America First Team in 2023 — racking up 617 kills, the third-highest single-season mark in all-time USC program history.

Losing Fields this offseason, who was out of eligibility, meant the prospect of the Big Ten — which currently has five teams ranked in the top 12 of the AVCA rankings — was even more daunting for the Trojans.

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But Keller’s coaching staff had an impressive summer, one that has left them with an intriguing group of players at their disposal. The Trojans brought in some Big Ten blood of their own, landing graduate outside hitter Ally Batenhorst in the transfer portal, who averaged 2.25 kills per set and played in the national championship game with No. 2 Nebraska (12-1, 2-0 Big Ten) last season. Batenhorst transferred to USC for her final year of eligibility after three campaigns with the Cornhuskers.

In addition to Batenhorst’s championship pedigree, Keller made a big splash on the high school recruiting trail, signing two VolleyballMag Fab 50 Selections — freshmen outside hitter Jadyn Livings and middle blocker Favor Anyanwu.

Behind contributions from these major additions, along with impressive performances from key returners such as senior setter Mia Tuaniga, junior libero Gala Trubint and sophomore outside hitter London Wijay, the Trojans have had a stronger start to the 2024 season than many might have expected.

However, there is one player who has not been grabbing as many headlines as Keller’s high-profile transfer or high-flying freshmen, but has been absolutely instrumental to the Trojans’ early success: redshirt junior middle blocker Tyrah Ariail.

Ariail’s performances flying under the radar may be a direct result of the impressive start Anyanwu, a fellow middle blocker from Texas, has made to her freshman campaign.

Anyanwu, the second-best prospect in the entire country according to VolleyballMag, has been able to make an immediate impact for the Trojans, averaging 1.74 kills per set and 1.03 blocks per set in 38 sets so far this season. She has received a lot of attention as one of the shiny new additions on Keller’s squad. However, just a few years ago, it was Ariail in Anyanwu’s shoes.

Ariail arrived in Los Angeles in fall of 2021, after an illustrious high school career in Plano, Texas, which earned her three First Team All-District selections and two District Blocker of the Year awards. She was also a highly touted prospect — the 29th-ranked player in the 2021 class according to PrepVolleyball.

Expectations were high ahead of Ariail’s debut season, and just as Anyanwu has so far this year, she looked the part. In 49 sets, Ariail averaged 1.88 kills per set and 1.08 blocks per set, with an impressive .360 hitting percentage.

But on Nov. 7, 2021, during a Pac-12 showdown with then-No. 16 Utah, disaster struck. Almost exactly a year after a devastating ACL tear during her senior year of high school, Ariail retore the same ACL. After all the work Ariail put in to rehab her injury and get ready for a breakout freshman year, she would have to do it all over again. The surgery, the physical therapy, the sitting on the sideline. All of it, again.

Eventually, Ariail was forced to make the decision to redshirt her sophomore season, not playing a single point. After spending months and months visualizing her return to the court, when it finally came, it was triumphant.

Ariail’s spot as starting middle blocker was waiting for her when she returned and she took full advantage of the opportunity, racking up a team-leading 115 blocks, a top-10 mark in the Pac-12 and finishing with 222 kills on a .320 hitting percentage.

This year, Ariail’s path to consistent playing time was complicated by Anyanwu’s arrival, but after making it through three knee injuries, that’s not much of a roadblock. Ariail has picked up right where she left off, with 61 kills, a remarkable 51 blocks and five aces through 11 games. Her 1.34 blocks per set, 0.13 aces per set and .336 hitting percentage are all significantly better marks than those of her freshman counterpart.

That is not to minimize the impact of Anyanwu, who surely seems a star in the making, but just a reminder that Ariail is still here, and she is one of the most important pieces on Keller’s squad. If Anyanwu’s promising freshman season encounters any roadblocks, she has the perfect mentor waiting to guide her through it. And if the Trojans make a splash in their first Big Ten season, it will be in no small part due to their dynamic duo in the middle.

Henry Mode is a sophomore writing about underappreciated Trojan athletes and storylines in his column,“Below the Fold,” which runs every other Tuesday. He is also a sports editor at the Daily Trojan.