Entering Saturday’s road matchup with now-No. 22 Minnesota, No. 17 USC women’s volleyball was cruising. A sweep of crosstown rival UCLA on Wednesday marked five straight wins, none of which went to a fifth set. By the end of the day, the Trojans had secured yet another victory; however, the match would turn out to be a far more difficult battle than the five that preceded it. 

While USC (17-5, 8-4 Big Ten) ultimately out-hit Minnesota (17-6, 7-5), 0.349 to 0.181, it was the Golden Gophers’ service pressure that almost proved fatal for the Trojans. The Gophers had 15 service aces compared to USC’s seven, earning the bulk of their aces in set one. 

However, the Trojans saw lights-out performances from their stars, including redshirt sophomore outside hitter London Wijay, who recorded her fourth double-double of the season while finishing with 25 kills. Freshman opposite hitter Abigail Mullen notched her fifth double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs, while freshman setter Reese Messer earned a career-high 54 assists. 

“Reese spread out the offense really well, and so all our hitters thrived, and we’re playing in really good situations. We’re allowed to be aggressive,” Wijay said in an interview with the Daily Trojan.

Trojans tough it out through opening sets

Minnesota separated itself early in the first set, taking a 9-point lead despite an opening kill from Wijay. Gopher senior outside hitter Julia Hanson notched four quick kills, and Minnesota freshman opposite hitter Carly Gilk had three service aces to force an early USC timeout. 

The Trojans were plagued with multiple errors, including service receptions, as back-to-back aces by Gilk brought Minnesota to six service aces in the first set alone. Facing set point, USC managed to draw within five thanks to kills from redshirt junior outside hitter Adonia Faumuina and Mullen, but another kill by freshman outside hitter Kelly Kinney closed out the 25-19 set for Minnesota. 

“I thought we got really rattled in set one … It was just really ugly volleyball,” Head Coach Brad Keller said in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “There’s a little bit of poise there from both teams, and it just turns into a battle as you go through it.” 

The Trojans had a stronger start to open set two, taking an early 5-2 lead following four kills from Wijay and sophomore middle blocker Mia Tvrdy. Minnesota kept the pace early on, but USC was able to pressure Minnesota to make mistakes, including a net violation, to put the Trojans up 14-6. 

While the Gophers capitalized on errors and began to catch up to the Trojans’ lead, USC never let its foot off the gas. Faumuina led the way for USC to close out set two, notching three more kills through Minnesota’s block to maintain the lead, and a block by Wijay and senior middle blocker Rylie McGinest sealed the set, 25-22.

USC stays alive to force fifth

The Trojans and Gophers traded points early in the third set, with neither team leading by more than two through the first 16 points. A block by Faumuina and McGinest put the Trojans up 10-7, but the Gophers were able to respond and force mistakes out of USC, using a missed serve by senior outside hitter Dani Thomas-Nathan and a block on Wijay to crawl back. 

Following its first timeout of the set, Minnesota took a 21-18 lead on another kill by Hanson. While two more kills from Mullen and Wijay helped the Trojans tie it at 23, a service error from Mullen and an ace on Thomas-Nathan allowed the Gophers to steal the set 25-23, going up 2-1 in the match. 

“They did a great job of attacking our line, tipping to the donut, and [they] hit the ball a lot to zone one from all over the court,” Keller said. “Their service pressure was at a different level than we’ve seen.”

The Trojans got off to a slower start to open the fourth, allowing a 5-1 Minnesota run capped by the Gophers’ 12th service ace of the night; then, it was Faumuina’s time to shine. While Minnesota was called for four touches, she notched a kill to tie the score at 8-8, and earned back-to-back blocks to propel a 6-0 scoring run and send the Gophers into a timeout. 

While Hanson responded with a kill to sideout, Wijay earned another kill out of the back row, and Mullen tooled the block to maintain the lead. Messer earned another ace, while Mullen and redshirt sophomore middle blocker Leah Ford earned a block coming out of Minnesota’s second timeout. 

The Trojans kept their presence on the Gophers, with Mullen and Ford getting their second block together and forcing an attack error on Minnesota freshman middle blocker Jordan Taylor. Messer called her own name, getting her own kill on a setter dump and setting up the offense shortly after allowing McGinest to get another kill. 

Another dominant block by Faumuina and McGinest pushed USC to set point. Though the Gophers fought off two set points with an ace on Faumuina, a kill by McGinest out of the middle down the line allowed the Trojans to secure the fourth and force a fifth set.

Wijay dominates in set five

The final set was yet another back-and-forth affair between the two squads. Wijay earned two kills to put the Trojans up with an early lead on a 3-0 scoring run; though the Gophers stayed close, USC was able to push ahead and maintain the lead after one tie, with a kill by Faumuina sending the teams into a timeout. 

Wijay’s offensive performance shone throughout the match’s finale. Along with a solo block by Ford, Wijay earned five more kills in the set to set a new career high of 25; she closed out the match with the Trojans’ final two kills to push them to a 15-12 victory, securing the match 3-2.

Wijay, who was named Big Ten Player of the Week for the second time this season, said the win continued to show the Trojans’ physicality and determination as they push through conference play. 

“Even though we’re undersized, we’re willing to lay our whole body on the court to win,” Wijay said. “Even if we’re down, even if we get aced multiple times, we’re still gonna figure out a way to win the game.”

The Trojans will return to Galen Center to face Northwestern (15-9, 5-7) on Thursday at 7 p.m.