Saturday’s matchup against Illinois was bittersweet. 

Though No. 16 USC women’s volleyball (22-6, 13-5 Big Ten) handily swept the Fighting Illini (13-14, 8-10) in three sets (25-10, 25-18, 25-21), it was the team’s last home game of the season — so the Trojans held their annual senior night ceremony before the game. 

The seniors — setter Allie Hazelwood, middle blocker Rylie McGinest, opposite hitter Madison Pietsch, outside hitter Dani Thomas-Nathan, libero Gala Trubint and libero Megan Verbiest — walked onto the court with their families and framed jerseys as their names were announced.

“It doesn’t feel real,” McGinest said in a postgame news conference Saturday. “Every year it just gets better. I wouldn’t want to end it with any other group.”

Throughout the match, team morale was high and filled with smiles, nonstop dancing on the sidelines and a lively Galen Center crowd carrying the Trojans to their win.

Whether it was due to the emotions of senior night or the team’s general determination, USC minimized mistakes and unforced errors. The Trojans had four service aces — two from freshman opposite hitter Abigail Mullen — and only five service errors compared to the 12 they recorded against Oregon last week. The Trojans’ clean game contrasted the Fighting Illini’s 11 service errors and three service aces. 

“[I’m] beyond proud of our team and our effort today. I thought it was the best serving performance we’ve had,” Head Coach Brad Keller said in a postgame news conference. “We were relentless from the service line, and I thought our mentality matched it on the court.”

No single player stood out in the stat line for USC, with four Trojans putting up seven or more kills. Redshirt junior outside hitter Adonia Faumuina led the way with 11, while Mullen and McGinest had eight each, and redshirt sophomore outside hitter London Wijay added seven. 

Though these numbers were abnormally low for Mullen and Wijay, who normally average 10 and 12.4 kills per match, respectively, USC still came out with a landslide win, showcasing the team’s depth and consistency.   

The Fighting Illini were hardly able to muster a fight, as the match only included a singular lead change — USC coming back from a 1-0 deficit in the second set to take the lead 2-1— sending the seniors out with a dominant and flashy final regular-season game at Galen Center.

“Whether it was good or bad, I just genuinely could always be myself with this team,” Trubint said. “That’s a big testament to [Keller] and our coaching staff for recruiting great people. Absolutely, 100%, we’ll miss the girls the most as well as the coaches.”

Next, the Trojans will head northeast to face Michigan State (18-10, 8-10) on Wednesday, followed by a match against Michigan (21-8, 11-7) on Friday to end the regular season. A continued strong finish for the Trojans, who have won 11 of their last 12 games outside of a loss to undefeated No. 1 Nebraska, may put them in a position to host a playoff contest in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.