They say you win some, you lose some — and across two matches over the weekend, USC women’s volleyball certainly saw both ends of the spectrum. 

No. 16 USC (20-6, 11-5 Big Ten) split its two-game homestand this weekend, beating Rutgers (11-17, 2-14) before falling to No. 1 Nebraska (26-0, 16-0). While the Trojans were able to secure their ninth consecutive victory in a sweep of the Scarlet Knights on Friday, their winning streak was cut short after losing to the Cornhuskers in a similar fashion Sunday. 

The match against Nebraska set a new attendance record for the program: 9,072 fans filled the seats of Galen Center, beating out the previous record of 7,303 set during the Trojans’ matchup against UCLA on Oct. 13, 2024. The match against Rutgers also saw an above-average attendance of 4,012 fans. 

“I just like the fan support,” Head Coach Brad Keller said in a postgame news conference Friday. “Really enjoyed the fact that there’s kind of a youth movement going on in [the stadium], and volleyball is well and alive in L.A.”

Trojans bring out brooms against Rutgers

The Trojans came out strong to open the first set, starting on a 4-0 run thanks to an early block by freshman opposite hitter Abigail Mullen and a kill from redshirt sophomore outside hitter London Wijay. 

The first set also saw senior libero Gala Trubint take a rare swing after being the only available hitter when a ball was tightly picked up by other hitters on the USC side. 

“I thought it was actually a really good play at the time,” Keller said in a postgame news conference Friday. “There was no one else available. She was aggressive. She made a great swing out of it.”

The Trojans kept a constant pressure on Rutgers to propel their set-one victory, forcing four service errors from the Scarlet Knights and holding them to a 0.027 hitting percentage. After Mullen secured another kill right by the 10-foot line, a kill by Wijay closed out the first set for USC, 25-13. 

The Trojans kept their momentum going in set two, as Mullen opened the set with back-to-back kills. While the Scarlet Knights tried to crawl back from an early deficit, getting within two points midway through the set, Wijay went up for another kill, and senior defensive specialist Megan Verbiest got her second ace to keep the Trojans comfortably ahead.

USC went on a 4-0 scoring run to push toward taking the second, aided by freshman setter Reese Messer, who called her own number and earned herself a kill, sending the ball over on two. Another net violation called on the Scarlet Knights allowed USC to go up 2-0, taking the second set 25-17. 

“We play with a little bit of a chip in a way, because we’re young and we have nothing to lose,” Messer said in a postgame news conference. “We have three people that have never been here before, so [we’re] just kind of playing young and free and just going for it.”

USC’s foot stayed on the gas to close out the sweep; the Trojans forced three straight attack errors for the first three points, and senior middle blocker Rylie McGinest followed up with a solo block of her own to end an early defensive rally. Redshirt junior outside hitter Adonia Faumuina and Wijay closed out the set with two kills, securing a 25-10 win for the sweep. 

Wijay went for a lights-out performance in the victory, notching 11 kills while hitting 0.370 with three blocks.

Huskers shatter USC’s winning streak

USC headed back to Galen Center on Sunday for a sold-out match against Nebraska, looking to defend its nine-game win streak. The Huskers were coming off a 3-1 win against UCLA (15-11, 9-7), where their 48-set victory streak was snapped. While the match was played at USC’s home gym, a sea of Nebraska red took over most of the stadium. 

The Trojans and Huskers traded points early to open set one, opening with a kill by freshman opposite hitter Virginia Adriano and ending with a kill from Wijay. However, Nebraska got on an early 6-1 scoring run that instantly put the lead far away from the Trojans; the Huskers’ size and momentum allowed them to dominate, preventing any attempt at a comeback from USC.

Nebraska junior outside hitter Harper Murray and senior outside hitter Taylor Landfair combined for nine kills in the first set, while the defense held USC to a crushing 0.125 hitting percentage. The Huskers hit 0.500 with only one attacking error to take the first set 25-13. 

The Trojans got off to a slower start in set two, as Murray went for another kill in the deep corner to open the set. Both teams outlasted long defensive rallies and kept balls alive, but USC couldn’t escape its mistakes: The Trojans gave up four more service errors in the set, and several miscommunications resulted in balls dropping on their side of the court.

Faumuina came alive in set two in an attempt to catch up to the Huskers’ lead, tooling off the block for a point and scoring again on a block against Adriano. However, despite her best efforts — as well as a strong performance from Mullen, who notched four kills with only one error — the Huskers took the second set 25-16. 

“I just felt like the game was a little too fast for us tonight,” Keller said. “I thought it was slow for them and fast for us.” 

The Huskers’ momentum carried well into set three, as they went on yet another 6-0 scoring run early to force USC into a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, however, USC made a run to keep itself in the game as sophomore middle blocker Mia Tvrdy notched a kill out of the middle, followed by two more from Faumuina and McGinest. 

The Trojans got hot late into the game: Mullen earned another block against Murray, while Wijay and Tvrdy earned two more kills to help the Trojans come back within four. In total, USC was able to force five attacking errors out of Nebraska and earned four blocks. 

However, Nebraska secured the sweep following junior middle blocker Andi Jackson’s fourth kill of the set, winning the third set 25-20. 

Despite the loss, Wijay notched her fifth double-double of the season, recording 10 kills and 13 digs. Faumuina followed closely behind with nine kills and one block. 

“We learned a lot about ourselves playing against a top-10 team,” Faumuina said in a postgame news conference Sunday. “We have a very good Oregon team that we’re going to be up against on Wednesday, and it’s just full steam ahead from here on that.”

The Trojans will look to bounce back as they face Oregon (15-11, 6-10) on Wednesday at Matt Knight Arena in Eugene at 7:30 p.m.