Roughly two weeks ago, USC women’s volleyball was at its lowest point of the season to date. After opening with a 9-1 record in their nonconference slate, the Trojans had just been swept by crosstown rival UCLA to fall to 2-4 in Big Ten play. With a No. 25 ranking, the team was in danger of falling out of the top 25 altogether for the first time since October 2023.

Just two weeks later, No. 22 USC (15-5, 6-4 Big Ten) has completely turned its momentum around. After picking up two wins on the road last weekend, the Trojans overwhelmed Maryland (8-12, 1-9) in straight sets Thursday night, earning their third consecutive victory in one of their most dominant performances of the season.

“It was a wakeup call,” Head Coach Brad Keller said in a postgame news conference Thursday. “Momentum is a massive ordeal. I think people [who] say that momentum is not a real thing [don’t] understand sports in general.”

Trojans breeze through Terps for sweep

USC rocketed off to a 9-3 start in the first set, forcing an early Maryland timeout after back-to-back kills from senior middle blocker Rylie McGinest. From there, the Trojans cruised to a 25-12 win, ending the set on a kill from freshman opposite hitter Abigail Mullen; her five kills were the most for any Trojan in a single set all day.

The second set was no different, as USC once again widened the gap early with a 10-2 run to open the frame. The Trojans’ defense thrived against a shaky Maryland offense, forcing 11 attack errors and recording seven blocks — the last of which was a team effort by freshman setter Reese Messer and sophomore middle blocker Mia Tvrdy to seal the set for USC, 25-14.

Despite being outscored 50-26 through the first two sets, the Terrapins refused to go down easily in the third, keeping the score tight early on. After calling a timeout down 12-8, Maryland stormed back for 3 straight points to bring the set within one.

However, the Trojans responded with a 7-1 run to give themselves some breathing room, capped off by a kill from redshirt sophomore opposite hitter London Wijay that Maryland unsuccessfully attempted to overturn. USC finished off the Terps with Mullen’s 10th kill of the night — her 12th night this season with double-digit kills — securing a 25-18 victory for the sweep.

‘This team is starting to believe’

The Trojans were firing on all cylinders throughout the match, recording a season-high 0.427 hitting percentage while holding Maryland to a season-low -0.047 mark. Keller attributed USC’s stellar play to the players’ strengthened belief in the team, which he said was a product of the momentum sparked by last week’s two road wins.

“[Winning] ignites belief, and when you believe, you become very dangerous,” Keller said. “This team is starting to believe.”

Mullen had one of the best performances of her young collegiate career, racking up 10 kills without an attack error for a season-high 0.526 hitting percentage. Mullen tied for the team lead in kills with Wijay, who had double-digit kills for the third straight match after slamming 34 across the Trojans’ last two wins to earn Big Ten Player of the Week honors.

Messer recorded 35 assists to bring her season total to 722, good for sixth among all Big Ten players. The freshman setter has been a driving force for USC in her first year with the team, notching 30 or more assists in all but one of the Trojans’ matches this season.

The win marked the 99th of Keller’s career with USC, putting him just one away from becoming the fourth coach in program history with 100 wins, a feat he accomplished Sunday. However, when asked about the achievement, Keller said he didn’t plan to celebrate and was more concerned with the team’s performance than his own accolades.

“I just want to win titles and championships, and I want to compete at the highest level, and I don’t care how we do that,” Keller said. “It’s about us and about this team.”

After beating Washington (9-10, 4-5) in four sets (25-20, 27-25, 21-25, 25-15) on Sunday, USC is set for a rematch with No. 25 UCLA (12-8, 6-4) at Galen Center. The Trojans and Bruins will begin play Wednesday at 7 p.m.