Undefeated USC closes out home schedule


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The No. 1 Women of Troy, who are off to their best start in program history, will play in their final home stand of the season against the Loyola Marymount Lions and San Francisco Dons at Merle Norman Stadium on Thursday.

Last Friday, the Women of Troy went to Zuma Beach to play No. 4 Pepperdine, and once again they defeated the Waves 3-2.

This was the first time in four years, the Waves lost a dual match at home. Sophomores Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes sealed the victory for the Women of Troy with a two-set victory, avenging their previous loss against Pepperdine’s No. 1 pairing.

Being ranked No. 1 in the country and being undefeated with a 15-0 record, the Women of Troy have a target on their backs. Head coach Anna Collier isn’t worried about their record and loves being undefeated.

“I think being undefeated speaks to confidence,” said Collier. “The team isn’t afraid of the target on their backs. They [opponents] know we’re good, come after us, you beat us you beat us and if you don’t you don’t.”

Since it is the final home match of the season for the Women of Troy, they will also have senior day to celebrate all the accomplishments of the senior class. The graduating class includes seniors: Bria Russ, Meg Norton, Eve Ettinger, Alexa Stonish and Emily Young. Both Russ and Ettinger were part of the original team, and they have built the program into what it is today.

“Well we used to practice on the beach a lot,” said Ettinger. “These court we play on are awesome to have and our program has gotten a lot better. I’m super excited to finish out our season strong like we have been doing well. I can’t wait.”

Even though its senior day, both Loyola Marymount and San Francisco come into Merle Norman Stadium with the hopes of upsetting the top-ranked Women of Troy.

The Loyola Marymount Lions will be playing the Women of Troy for a third time, while this will be the first time San Francisco faces off against USC in sand volleyball.

In LMU’s first two duals against USC, they lost 4-1 both times, and they have not played since they lost to USC back on April second. Since their last dual match, the Lions have fallen out of the top 10 and currently their overall record sits at 2-8. One bright spot for the Lions is that their top pairing of senior Betsi Metter and freshman Sarah Sponcil were able to defeat Claes and Hughes twice this season.

“We really want our ones to play well,” said Collier. “LMU’s ones are good and they both are on the junior national team and they have traveled to play. We need to make sure we come out and play better.”

For the Women of Troy’s second opponent, the San Francisco Dons will be enjoying their first trip outside of Northern California this season. So far on the season, San Francisco has a record of 8-5 and they are coming off wins against No. 13 Pacific as well as Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

The Dons have had some struggles at their top pairing, where junior Courtney Sabahi and senior Valentina Zaloznik have been battling to keep their position. Sabahi and Zaloznik are only 7-6 in duals, while the No. 2 pairing of freshman Jessica Gaffney and junior Sara Staengle are 9-4 on the season.

The first dual against LMU starts at 2:30 pm followed by San Francisco at 4 p.m.