It was a weekend of hard-learned lessons for USC as it faced Michigan State and No. 3 Penn State on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.

Heading into Thursday’s match against Michigan State (8-13, 1-9 Big Ten), the Trojans  (14-6, 6-4) were riding a nine-game home win streak and were undefeated against unranked opponents. However, both streaks were put to an end as Michigan State reverse-swept them. 

The Trojans never trailed in the first two sets. Michigan State’s junior outside hitter Akasha Anderson helped the Spartans keep it a close two sets as she led the Spartans with 8 kills. However, led by freshman outside hitter Jadyn Livings’ 9 kills and graduate outside hitter Ally Batenhorst’s 6 kills, the Trojans entered the third set, looking to end the match. 

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In a much closer third set, involving eight ties and five lead changes, the Spartans battled to keep the match going. Late in the third set, with a match point looming large, 3 straight kills by junior outside hitter Akaosha Anderson put the Spartans ahead 25-24. Eventually, Michigan State took the set 27-25, led by Anderson’s formidable 11 kills in the frame.

Michigan State never trailed in the next two sets.

A well-executed fourth set by the Spartans, where they hit .522 and squashed a late comeback attempt by the Trojans to end it 25-20, sent the match to the fifth set. 

With the match on the line, USC was quickly down 4-0 in the fifth set. The Trojans tried to chip away at the lead. However, they remained behind the Spartans for the rest of the set, and the Spartans took it 15-13. 

Batenhorst recorded a career-high 23 kills. However, USC’s 22 service errors compared to Michigan State’s 10 were the key statistics for ending the night. 

After the match, Head Coach Brad Keller was candid about his team’s mistake-ridden performance. 

“You’re not going to win matches when you’re handing the game over like that,” Keller said. “We shot ourselves in the foot quite a bit tonight, is what I would say.”

Keller’s squad turned the page to face Penn State (20-1, 10-0) Saturday night. 

The match began with a disappointing first set. The Trojans kept the set close at the beginning, reaching a 9-9 score after six ties and three lead changes. However, the set quickly ran away from them as they allowed 6 unanswered points. The Trojans never recovered and dropped the first set 25-18. 

USC came fighting back and took the second set. Batenhorst’s 6 kills and one block led the team to a 25-20 second-set win. 

Long stretches of unanswered points again haunted USC in the third set. The Trojans led the set 7-6 but allowed a Penn State 7-0 scoring run. This run ended with a kill from redshirt freshman middle blocker Leah Ford, but it was followed by a Penn State 6-0 run that left the Trojans down 19-8. USC never returned from the deficit and lost the set 25-20. 

“We just give up too many big runs. It’s like, you give up one or two, fine, but when you start giving up four or five, you just dig yourself a hole, a. And it takes a lot of energy to get back,” Keller said.

With 17 ties and seven lead changes, the fourth set was a nail-biter as the Trojans and the Nittany Lions engaged in a thrilling back-and-forth.

At a 24-21 set point, a service error allowed the set to continue, and 2 points by the Nittany Lions made the set come to a 24-24 tie. From there, it was a battle to see which team would outlast the other.

Livings was key in keeping the Trojans’ hopes of extending the match alive. With 3 kills at match points, Livings scored USC’s last 3 points. 

Ultimately, the Nittany Lions silenced a clamorous crowd in Galen Center. A kill and a service ace by graduate outside hitter Camryn Hannah dashed the Trojans’ hopes of taking the match to the fifth set, ending with a 32-30 fourth set. 

“Too many, too many errors for us at the very, very end,” Keller said. “We give up easy points right now, and that’s the frustrating part. So if we get past that little hump, I think we’re going to be a formidable opponent down the stretch.”

The Trojans will look to move on from these losses when they play UCLA (10-9, 4-6) at Pauley Pavilion Thursday at 6:30 p.m.