After an up-and-down road trip last week, featuring an upset win over then No. 15 Indiana, USC women’s volleyball looked to build off that momentum over the weekend with a pair of matches at Galen Center.

However, the Trojans’ (8-10, 2-6 Big Ten) early conference struggles continued as they dropped a five-set heartbreaker against Ohio State (10-7, 3-4) Friday, despite a season-best performance by redshirt junior outside hitter London Wijay. Saturday’s game was not much better, as USC were swept by No. 15 Penn State (13-5, 5-3).

Following Head Coach Brad Keller’s leave of absence on Oct. 5, this weekend marked the Trojans’ third weekend under interim Head Coach Megan Moenoa, who was initially looking to build off the win against the Hoosiers.

USC loses to Ohio State despite Wijay’s dominance

Both the Trojans and Buckeyes came into Friday’s matchup looking to build some momentum after slow starts to conference play. 

Ohio State jumped out to an 8-6 lead as senior outside hitter Hannah Jones had two early kills for the Buckeyes. Jones was one of four Buckeyes with double-digit kills on the day, totaling 12. Despite a 5-0 response from USC, Ohio State went on a 13-3 run to win the set, 25-17.

The second set also began with Ohio State getting off to an early lead. USC’s offense came alive, however, recording 13 kills, including five by sophomore opposite hitter Abigail Mullen. Mullen helped the Trojans win the set, 25-22, tying the match at 1-1.

In the third set, Buckeye junior outside hitter Naomy Govou dominated the set early with five kills and a service ace in the first 16 points. Govou finished the set with seven kills, and despite an 8-0 rally from USC, Ohio State took a 2-1 lead on a 25-21 third-set victory.  

The fourth set was a tightly contested affair with both teams going on multiple runs. Ohio State started off strong with an 8-4 lead before a 5-2 run by the Trojans brought the score to 10-9. Ohio State countered with an 8-3 run that put them within striking distance of closing the match, before Wijay came alive. 

With eight kills, she helped USC squeak out a 26-24 win to set up a winner-take-all fifth set. Wijay ended the night with a season-high 20 kills in a dominant performance.

Ohio State controlled the fifth set from the beginning, earning nine early kills to start the set 11-5. USC answered back with a 6-1 rally to get within one point of Ohio State at 12-11. However, two more kills by Govou helped close out the match for the Buckeyes, 15-11, ensuring another close loss for the Trojans.

An overwhelming offense was the theme of the day for Ohio State, as it had nearly 20 more kills than USC with 73 kills to the Trojans’ 54. USC was also held below a .100 hitting percentage in two sets.

Penn State beats USC in convincing sweep 

The Trojans returned to Galen Center Saturday afternoon looking to correct some of their defensive issues in their showdown with Penn State. The Nittany Lions, like the Trojans, were also looking to avenge a five-set loss after falling to UCLA (14-4, 5-2) Friday on the road.

The Trojans improved vastly on defense, holding Penn State, who came into the weekend hitting .258, to just .203. Offensively, however, USC was completely out of sorts. The team hit just .094 and had 24 errors en route to being swept by the Nittany Lions. 

“We need to be a really, really strong passing team with the pieces that we have right now in the offense,” Moenoa said in a postgame news conference Saturday. “The pressure is going to continue to be on our passers to make our offensive efforts just a little bit easier.”

Over the course of the last few games, the team has faced some growing pains with transitioning from using junior Lilli Etter at setter to freshman Milly McGee. 

In a theme similar to Friday’s showdown, USC started off behind in the first set before evening the score at 13. From there, Penn State dominated the game, going on a 9-2 run before winning the first set 25-17. The Nittany Lions’ defense was on point all game, blocking seven of the Trojans’ shots in the first set.  

After winning the first point of the second set, the Trojans did not regain the lead again. Penn State went on a 7-2 run, and although USC was able to claw back within a point, down 24-23, a kill from senior right side hitter Kennedy Martin clinched the set for the Nittany Lions. Martin led her team with 10 kills, while Wijay got five of her 11 kills in the second set. 

The Trojan offense continued to struggle in the third, never leading in what ended up being the final set. The Nittany Lions took control of the game on their way to a 25-19 win to complete the straight sweep in style. 

After a decent second-set performance, USC’s offensive struggles returned with eight errors and a .093 hitting percentage. Wijay struggled offensively with just two kills and three errors in the final set. However, she brought it on the defensive end with 11 digs, marking her second double-double of the year.

Although the Trojans, who finished last year 25-7, have already accumulated 10 losses and have faced significant adversity, redshirt junior middle blocker Leah Ford remains optimistic about the team’s future.

“Being an athlete, it comes with injuries, it comes with challenges, battles and … resilience,” Ford said in a postgame news conference. “It’s how you fight back and how you respond to things like this, and we just stay positive with everything.”

The Trojans will look to bounce back against the Iowa Hawkeyes (12-10, 1-6) Thursday at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa, at 4 p.m.