After losing to crosstown rival No. 25 UCLA on national television last weekend, No. 22 USC women’s volleyball bounced back on the road, picking up wins against Iowa on Friday and No. 12 Wisconsin on Sunday.

The matches proved fruitful for the Trojans (13-5, 4-4 Big Ten), who went into the pair of matches ranked No. 25 and with much to prove, having a 2-4 conference performance thus far. The Badgers (13-3, 6-2) dropped three places following their defeat, and the Hawkeyes (10-10, 1-7) remained unranked.

USC started its successful road trip with a victory over Wisconsin in four sets (25-20, 25-27, 25-23, 29-27), hitting 0.258 compared to Iowa’s 0.159.

“We were extremely tough and extremely gritty,” Head Coach Brad Keller said in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “I thought Iowa was unbelievable, and we hung in there and got a really, really tough road win.”

Freshman opposite hitter Abigail Mullen and redshirt sophomore middle blocker Leah Ford helped USC pull away for a win in the first set with two key blocks. However, after freshman setter Reese Messer exited the second set with a leg injury, Iowa rallied to tie the match.

The third set was highlighted by back-and-forth competition between the Trojans and Hawkeyes, with the teams tying the set a combined six times up to 13-13. USC eventually pulled ahead 18-14 and held off a comeback from Iowa to secure the set win. Freshman libero Taylor Deckert impressed with 10 digs in the set.

A highly competitive fourth set saw 14 different ties and ended with a solo block from Ford, her third of the night, to take the match for the Trojans. Deckert finished the match with a career-high 28 digs — the most by a USC player since 2022 and the third-highest total by a Big Ten player this season.

One important stat wasn’t included in the box score: the heat. Keller said that Carver-Hawkeye Arena did not have air conditioning and felt like it was “100 degrees” inside.

“It was almost unplayable, and my team did not complain,” Keller said.

Following their victory against the Hawkeyes, the Trojans traveled northeast to Wisconsin to take on the Badgers in a tough ranked match Sunday. Although Wisconsin took the first set, USC would storm back to win the following three sets, upsetting the Badgers in four sets (23-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-22). 

“It was just about staying within ourselves and believing in how we play and how we train,” Keller said.

After the Badgers took the first set with late defensive pressure, the Trojans refused to let up easy, opening with a 5-0 run early in the second set. Redshirt sophomore outside hitter London Wijay dominated the set with 7 kills, one of which sealed the 25-23 win for USC.

The third set proved to be the best hitting set of the match for the Trojans. They hit 0.366 with 18 kills and just three errors. Sophomore middle blocker Mia Tvrdy stepped up off the bench and racked up 6 kills in the set, helping USC take a 2-1 lead in the match.

USC stormed ahead to an 11-2 lead in the fourth set, but Wisconsin rallied with a run of its own to tie the score 22-22. The Trojans responded with three straight points to seal the win, with Mullen finishing the match with a kill on a long rally.

“This gives us a lot of confidence [and] shows that we’re capable of achieving great things when we play disciplined team volleyball,” Mullen said.

The road trip brought accolades for the Trojans, including Big Ten Player of the Week for Wijay and Big Ten Freshman of the Week for Deckert, the first Big Ten honors for both players this season. Wijay matched a career high with 24 kills on 0.308 hitting against Wisconsin, while Deckert anchored USC’s defense with 28 digs at Iowa and 25 digs at Wisconsin.

Next up, the Trojans are set to return to Galen Center, where they will face Maryland (8-10, 1-7) on Thursday at 7 p.m. and Washington (9-9, 4-4) on Sunday at noon. Keller will look to pick up his 100th career victory after notching win No. 98 against Wisconsin.

“We have to make sure that we are not comfortable next week,” Keller said. “We need to be extremely on it.”

Adriana Brady contributed to this report.