Fresh off a 2-2 split in the Best in the West Tournament, the Trojans traveled to San Luis Obispo in hopes of redemption and to chase more wins against top 10 teams.

This season, the Trojans currently sit undefeated at home and have split several matches against ranked opponents. The Center of Effort Challenge had No. 4 USC (26-7) slated to face four familiar opponents in No. 1 Stanford (30-3), No. 8 TCU (16-9), No. 7 LMU (22-10) and No. 2 UCLA (25-4).

Despite the Trojans having already been acquainted with these opponents, they weren’t able to secure the overall tournament win over the Bruins, yet again.

Upset on Day 1

Having split the series against Stanford this season, the Trojans were seeking to add a win following Stanford’s sheer dominance last weekend, resulting in every pair losing to the Cardinal.

The No. 1 pair of sophomore Kennedy Coakley and junior Zoey Henson swiftly defeated Stanford’s No. 1 pair, senior Kelly Belardi and sophomore Avery Jackson. But USC’s No. 3 pair fell to the Cardinal, putting a win in each team’s pocket.

The match at the No. 2 pair went the distance, but didn’t go the Trojans’ way. The newer pair, freshman Sarah Wood and junior Ashley Pater, lost their match in their first time playing together. But the loss wasn’t enough to quell the Trojans as the No. 4 and 5 pairs got it done for USC, dominating their opponents to secure an upset win.

Following the exciting upset, USC faced TCU, which has lost every contest against the Trojans this season.

Freshman Bella Satterwhite and graduate student Kerry Keefe, who normally play at the No. 3 pair, were promoted to the No. 2 pair this weekend and battled with the Horned Frogs, but ultimately fell in three sets.

Still, even with the changes and two set losses, the Trojans took the overall win over TCU, finishing a strong first day.

USC falls to crosstown rival on Day 2

USC opened day two of the tournament against LMU. In their second meeting this season, USC was looking to take home another win.

Despite No. 1 and No. 2 pairs exchanging partners for the Trojans, both dominated their matches, giving USC an early lead in the duel.

Freshman Kyra Zaengle and sophomore Calinda Kok at the No. 4 pair lost the first set of their match, but immediately turned it around in the second set, dominating sophomore Maja Kruczek and freshman Josefine Schaekel and winning the overall match.

Junior Madison Goellner and junior Kaileigh Truslow at the No. 5 pair completed the sweep in a drawn-out battle. The match went to three sets, with the pair just barely securing the win in the third set, 19-21, 21-19, 15-13.

USC’s win against LMU slated the Trojans to face their crosstown rival for the third time this season. The Trojans have not been able to beat UCLA all year, and this competition was no different.

The loss was set in stone early as the No. 1, 2 and 3 pairs all fell to UCLA. The No. 3 pair was the only pair to lose and go the distance, but it was to no avail.

Zaengle and Kok pushed their match to three after losing a very extended first set, and never looked back. They dominated the second set and used that momentum to pick up the individual win. Goellner and Truslow continued to play consistently against UCLA, once again dominating their match in straight sets.

With the overall loss to the Bruins, the Trojans finished the Center of Effort Challenge in second place.

USC will have another opportunity to redeem itself against UCLA during their final match at home on Thursday at noon.