USC women’s volleyball enters its second Big Ten season without many of last season’s key producers, including the team leaders in kills, assists and service aces. Despite that, Head Coach Brad Keller’s retooled squad — a mix of newcomers and returners looking to take on bigger roles — is preparing to build upon its solid freshman campaign.

The Trojans were ranked No. 6 in the Big Ten preseason poll after finishing in seventh last season with a 22-10 record and 13-7 in conference play. They ended their season by falling decisively to Texas in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. 

“Last year, we didn’t know what we didn’t know. Now, we’ve studied a lot of these teams,” said Keller at Big Ten Volleyball Media Days. “We have to keep adapting and keep pushing our tempo — playing faster, more physical and smarter.”

Preseason No. 1 Nebraska, No. 2 Penn State, No. 3 Wisconsin and No. 4 Minnesota all finished ahead of USC last season, while crosstown rival and preseason No. 5 UCLA also jumped ahead despite an 8-12 Big Ten record last season.

While Keller said the Big Ten schedule is difficult due to teams using very different play styles, he said the team’s success will be more dependent on how they develop during practice than how the team adjusts for a specific matchup.

Preseason All-Conference hitter leads Trojans

One of USC’s projected top contributors this year is redshirt junior outside hitter Adonia Faumuina, named to the Big Ten’s Preseason All-Conference team in late July.

Without outside hitter Ally Batenhorst and setter Mia Tuaniga — both of whom graduated after starting all 32 games for the Trojans last season — USC will look to younger players like Faumuina to step up. 

Batenhorst led the Trojans in kills last year with 481, nearly 200 more than any teammate. Tuaniga led USC in service aces with 50 and 1,220 assists, 1,107 more than the next Trojan. Both made the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s All-Pacific Region first-team last season.

“Last year, we were excited to go into something new,” Faumuina said at Big Ten Volleyball Media Days. “We’re ready this year, going into different places like Penn State and Minnesota. We’re just really excited for the level of play that’s about to come.” 

Faumuina played the third-most sets for USC in 2024, just three behind Batenhorst and Tuaniga, and ranked second on the team in kills with 298. However, Faumuina struggled a bit with efficiency, holding an attacking percentage roughly 40 points below Batenhorst at .197.

After suffering a season-ending injury in 2023, Faumuina said she never felt fully healthy but now feels ready to take another step forward. 

“It was nerve-wracking, just not trying to injure myself again,” Faumuina said of last season. “But I had the best support system around me … That really set the foundation for me, and I’m excited to use that going forward.” 

Senior libero Gala Trubint, who ranked 14th in the Big Ten with a team-high 377 digs, is one of the only other major contributors from last season to be back in 2025. Trubint has led USC in digs each of the last three seasons and was a Pacific-12 All-Conference Team honorable mention during her freshman campaign in 2022.

The player with the next most sets played in 2024 is senior libero Megan Verbiest, who didn’t start a game for the Trojans but appeared in 30 and racked up 104 digs behind Trubint.

Rising star looking to be ‘more creative’

Outside of Faumuina, Trubint and Verbiest, eight other players will return from the 2024 roster.

Among those is redshirt sophomore middle blocker Leah Ford, who made the Big Ten All-Freshman Team last season after having USC’s third-most blocks with 95, as well as over 100 kills on an impressive .362 hitting percentage. 

“Definitely putting in the work for rehab, putting in the work in the weight room, getting my offense more available and getting more shots,” Ford said of her offseason training approach. “Just being more creative.”

At Big Ten Volleyball Media Days, Ford said she has been focusing on her offensive game in the offseason and is hoping to develop a more balanced play style.

“At the beginning, [Ford] wasn’t as strong as she is now — she’s really developed herself and put time into the weight room,” Keller said. “Her blocking has always been good, but now it’s about how high she can get above the net and how she becomes a complete player.”

Two promising freshmen last season, outside hitter Jadyn Livings and middle blocker Favor Anyanwu, both transferred to Southern Methodist University, while upcoming redshirt senior middle blocker Tyrah Ariail, also last year’s blocks leader, left for Missouri. 

The only other Trojan with more than 70 sets played last season is redshirt junior outside hitter Madison Pietsch, who had 55 kills, 28 digs and 26 blocks last season.

‘It’s going to be a much younger team’

USC’s roster also features several talented freshmen, such as outside hitter Quinn Loper, setter Reese Messer, libero Taylor Deckert and opposite hitter Abigail Mullen. Loper, Messer, Deckert and Mullen — all named to high school All-America teams — have the skill to compete for immediate playing time despite just arriving on campus this summer. 

“There [are] a lot of new, fresh faces,” Keller said. “It’s going to be a much younger team.” 

Loper was named to the 2024 VolleyballMag Fab 50 and helped her club team win the Elite Triple Crown championships. Messer finished her senior season with 636 assists and 328 kills and earned the Kansas State 5A Player of the Year award. Mullen surpassed 1,000 career kills, including 570 kills in her final season. Deckert, earning Under Armour All-American honors and Bay League MVP, finished her senior year with 526 digs over 97 sets, averaging 5.4 per set. 

Redshirt freshman outside hitter Brooklyn Tealer — who will return to competition after missing the entire 2024 season due to injury — is another player with an impressive high school pedigree that will debut for the Trojans in 2025.

Culture building a major goal for Keller

Keller said with the implementation of name, image and likeness deals, rosters are bound to see significant changes from year to year, which is why he is hoping to build a strong culture that will allow anyone to plug in or out. 

As shown by the roster overhaul from the 2024 season, Keller said brand building has become a critical part of college athletics on top of developing skills on the court.

“You’re going to constantly see movement,” Keller said. “The teams that do really well over time are going to really invest in their culture. That’s the backbone of what they do.”

USC will face the Bruins, preseason No. 8 Washington and preseason No. 12 Oregon both at home and on the road, while seeing the other 14 teams once each.

“I’m really excited for this level of play that’s about to come this next month,” Faumuina said. “We’re ready this year.” 

USC will open up its 2025 season at Galen Center against the University of Denver on Aug. 29 at 7 p.m., before making a short trip to take on Loyola Marymount University at Gersten Pavilion on Aug. 31 at 1 p.m. Both are non-league bouts.