Women of Troy swept by Bruins at home
After losing three of its last four matches, including two on its home court, the USC women’s volleyball team sought its first home victory of the season when crosstown rival UCLA made the trip to the Galen Center on Tuesday night.
Sam I am · Junior outside hitter Samantha Bricio tallied a team-high 12 kills along with five digs in Tuesday night’s match against the Bruins. The Guadalajara, Mexico native hit .233 on the match and had no service aces. – Brian Ji | Daily Trojan
USC (7-3) came into the match ranked No. 9 in the nation while UCLA (9-2) was ranked No. 20. Though the Women of Troy held the upper hand in the rankings, the Bruins ran away with the win, sweeping USC, 25-23, 25-13, 27-25.
The match started off very close, with 16 ties in the first set. In fact, neither team led the first set by more than two points until the Bruins took a 23-20 advantage late in the set. The Bruins would go on to win the first set by a slim 25-23 margin.
The Bruins seemed to ride some momentum into the second set, jumping out to an 11-6 lead. After a timeout, the Bruins expanded their lead and never looked back, winning the set 25-13. UCLA controlled almost every aspect of the set. One major category where the Women of Troy continued to falter was service errors — they had six service errors in the second set alone.
In the third set, the Women of Troy didn’t let the Bruins go on a big run, but the Bruins worked their way to a 20-13 lead. Senior outside hitter Emily Young was brought into the game and USC began a remarkable comeback, tying the set 23-23 a few minutes later. But the comeback would be for nothing as USC would eventually drop the third and final set 27-25.
After the game, Young talked about her opportunity to make a difference during the third set.
“I was fortunate to be put into a position where I was able to give all that I could to my teammates,” Young said. “I was put in a role where I knew I had nothing to lose. I knew when I looked at every girl in the eye out on the court, I knew they wanted to win and I knew that we could do it. I just kind of laid it all out for my team. ”
Junior outside hitter Samantha Bricio also had some comments regarding the play of the Women of Troy and what they need to do to start winning games again.
“We need to create energy because our attitude is always like a flatline and we don’t get excited,” said Bricio. “We need like, as a team, to bring more energy.”
UCLA’s Karsta Lowe was unstoppable throughout the match, tallying 22 kills and six digs. For USC, Bricio led the way with 12 kills, and she also collected five digs. Freshman outside hitter Lauryn Gillis had six kills and five digs in the match, while sophomore outside hitter Ebony Nwanebu added six kills and two digs.
As a team, the Bruins outperformed the Women of Troy in nearly every category. The Bruins had 11 more kills, 16 more assists, 11 more digs and nearly a 10 percent better hitting percentage than the Women of Troy. The Women of Troy had two more team blocks than the Bruins, but they also had seven more service errors. With the loss, the Women of Troy fall to 7-4, with all four losses coming in the last five matches. The Women of Troy are still winless on their home floor with an 0-3 record, but look to rebound Friday against Arizona State at the Galen Center.
Head coach Mick Haley admits his team has a lot of work to do to improve.
“The first six [games], we played decent teams, but they’re not the quality of Florida and UCLA and Wisconsin,” Haley said. “They are all top 10 teams. If we’re going to be a top 10 team, we have to beat some of these teams. We’re not a top 10 team right now.”