After sweeping their own Trojan Invitational 3-0 last weekend, No. 16 USC women’s volleyball will head to Loyola Marymount University to take on their next round of opponents in the two-game LMU Invitational. The Trojans beat the Lions 3-1 on Aug. 31, but they will instead face No. 19 BYU (6-0) and Western Michigan University (1-6) during the invitational.

The weekend victories included outlasting UC Santa Barbara (3-2) and the University of San Diego (3-3) in five sets each. The Trojans also notably swept No. 18 Creighton University (3-3) after losing their last four matchups, helping USC rise five spots on the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll. 

USC’s 5-0 start to the season also marks the Trojans’ best start since 2015. Freshman setter Reese Messer and redshirt sophomore outside hitter London Wijay were named to the All-Tournament Team, with freshman opposite hitter Abigail Mullen being named Most Outstanding Player. 

“On Sunday, I think that was just a really great showing of what we are capable of,” Mullen said on Trojans Live on Monday. “We just played the volleyball we know how to play.”

The Trojans will face BYU on Thursday, which Head Coach Brad Keller noted as the Trojans’ primary opponent of the invitational. The Trojans and Cougars have met seven times in program history, with their last matchup ending in a 3-0 loss for USC in 2018. 

The Cougars are led by junior outside hitter Claire Little Chambers, who has the most kills on the team with 87. Freshman outside hitter Suli Davis is close behind with 78, and junior middle blocker Mia Lee leads in blocks with 24. 

“BYU is way more physical than any of the teams that we’ve played thus far. They are one of the best blocking teams in the country,” Keller said in an interview with the Daily Trojan. 

USC will face Western Michigan for the first time in program history on Friday. The Broncos lost each of their last six matches, only winning against the 0-6 Oakland University Golden Grizzlies in four sets at their season opener.

The Broncos are led by sophomore outside hitter Annalise Patchett, who has the most kills on the team with 82. Redshirt freshman setter Leah Richmond currently leads with 253 assists, and graduate middle blocker Molly Brown leads in blocks with 21. 

Keller said dealing with the challenges of going to five sets twice and back-to-back at the Trojan Invitational has helped the team prepare for teams like Creighton.  

“We did a very good job … creating our style of play, imposing our style of play on them,” he said.

Throughout last weekend’s invitational, the Trojans saw notable lineup changes that included starting freshman libero Taylor Deckert over senior libero Gala Trubint for all three games. Keller has also been rotating players in the other positions, notably switching between outside hitters, including redshirt junior Adonia Faumuina, redshirt freshman Brooklyn Tealer and Wijay.  

“We have a libero battle right now between Taylor and Gala. I think we have an outside hitter battle. There’s three outside hitter spots … for two positions,” Keller said. “They need to get their touches, and they need to get in there, and I need to see where they are.”

The Trojans will face the Cougars at 6 p.m. Thursday and the Broncos at 3:30 p.m. Friday, both at Gersten Pavilion in Los Angeles.