After losing against Stanford and UC Berkeley in the Bay, USC will return to Galen Center to face Washington State and Washington this weekend. After a nine-game winning streak lasting almost a month, the Trojans are 1-3 in their last four games. 

“A lot of it is getting rid of complacency and getting back to the fundamentals of what we do, the foundation of what we’re about and making sure we’re more disciplined and prepped for the next round,” said Head Coach Brad Keller in an interview with the Daily Trojan.

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Offensively, the Trojans (11-7, 5-3 Pac-12) are 58th in Division 1 in kills per set. Senior outside hitter Skylar Fields has a team-leading 353 kills and is fourth in the nation, averaging 4.97 kills per set. 

“The passers are doing a great job putting the ball and targeting,” Fields said. [Junior setter Mia Tuaniga] is able to run it off, and so I’m able to just go up there and attack.”

Three others have 100 kills or more, including senior middle blocker Lindsey Miller, who also has a team-leading 70 blocks.

Defensively, sophomore libero Gala Trubint and graduate defensive specialist Ellie Snook share time in the back row. Trubint has a team-leading 248 digs, while Snook has 146. 

“You can always control two things, and that’s effort and attitude, and I think that’s 100% of what defense is,” Trubint said. “As long as I can go into every game with a good attitude and 100% of my effort, I think I can always get my best game.”

The Trojans will take on Washington State (17-2, 7-1) Friday. The Cougars have the 23rd-most kills per set average in the country. Graduate outside hitter Iman Isanovic and fifth-year outside hitter Pia Timmer both have more than 200 kills each. Senior setter Argentina UEng is 21st in the nation, averaging 10.57 assists per set. Fifth-year Magda Jehlárová has a team-leading 88 blocks while also having the fourth-most kills on the team. 

“It’s going to be about each rotation [being] a little bit of a different matchup and trying to figure out how to put them in just as awkward of a situation as possible,” Keller said. “The certain pass game is going to be pretty valuable in this one.”

Next, the Trojans will play Washington (13-6, 4-4) Sunday. The Huskies are on a three-game winning streak after defeating UC Berkeley, Colorado and Utah. Washington has a versatile offense with junior outside hitter Madi Endsley, freshman outside hitter Kierstyn Barton, sophomore outside hitter Audra Wilmes and senior outside hitter May Pertofsky all having 176 kills or more. 

“We know we’re gonna be facing teams like Washington State in the tournament,” Fields said. “Being able to have that early on in the season, being able to get those looks and play against that, it’s only going to make us raise our performance and play better, so I’m super excited.”

The Trojans will take on Washington State Friday at 7:00 p.m. in Galen Center before playing Washington University Sunday at 2:00 p.m.

Kasey Kazliner contributed to this report.