USC sweeps rival Bruins to remain perfect

It was a sweet victory for the No. 3-ranked USC women’s volleyball team on Wednesday night as they opened up their Pac-12 conference schedule with a sweep on the road against crosstown rival and No. 13-ranked UCLA in straight sets (25-22, 25-12, 25-19).

The 105th all-time meeting between the two schools would prove to be one-sided as the Women of Troy drew first blood and never allowed the Bruins into the match.

With the sweep in Westwood, USC improved to 13-0 and 1-0 in conference, while UCLA’s eight-match winning streak was snapped and the Bruins fell to 9-2, 0-1 overall.

Perhaps the star of the match was freshman outside hitter Alyse Ford. While playing in her first ever rivalry match, Ford came out of the gates swinging.

“I was just looking forward to experiencing my first rivalry game,” Ford said.

In the first set, the Laguna Beach, California, native tallied five kills on a .667 hitting clip to lead USC. The Bruins could not figure out how to stop Ford, as the freshman continued to pound away in the front court to finish the night with 11 kills to lead USC.

“Personally, I’ve just been trying to be more poistive and limit my errors as much as possible,” Ford said. “Once I limit my errors, everything opens up more and I’m able to get into more of a rhythm.”

Senior outside hitter Samantha Bricio had an uncharacteristically off-night, tallying just 10 kills on 33 swings. Bricio, the nation’s leader in aces per set (0.87) and points per set (6.26), did, however, record a service ace and four blocks.

Junior middle blocker Elise Ruddins had a big night for the Women of Troy as well, hitting .500 and adding eight kills and four blocks of her own.

Freshman setter Baylee Johnson, who ranks ninth in the Pac-12 with 6.84 assists per set, dished out 18  helpers and added eight digs, while junior setter Alice Pizzasegola added 16 assists of her own.

Inside a packed Pauley Pavilion, the Women of Troy took it to the Bruins from the opening whistle and never let UCLA or the Bruin faithful get going. In the first set, USC ran out to a 13-5 lead thanks to solid defense and blocking at the net.

“Playing here … it was amazing seeing all the people coming in from UCLA and giving us a hard time, but we ended up pulling through,” Ford said.

UCLA would pull within two at 21-19, but Ford’s five kills in the set would make the difference as the Women of Troy gutted out the 25-22 set victory.

The second set would be more of the same for USC, as the Women of Troy led by as many as 12 points to silence the Bruin crowd.

Timely kills by Bricio and solid setting by Johnson allowed USC to pull out the 25-12 clobbering in the second set.

It was déjà vu in the third set for USC as the Women of Troy pulled out to a 14-5 lead early. Ford and Bricio teamed up at the pins once again and an ace by freshman libero Victoria Garrick ended the third set and the match in favor of USC, 25-19.

“I just try to contribute as much as I can,” Ford said. “That was the main idea when I came in … I was like how can I save Sam [Brico’s] shoulder for her next career.”

On the defensive end, USC put up a wall with 11 blocks on the night, while forcing UCLA into a mere .056 hitting percentage. Senior middle blocker Alicia Ogoms, who leads the Pac-12 with 1.71 blocks per set, added five blocks to her tally.

The Women of Troy were also able to contain UCLA’s top pin hitters, including leading scorer Jordan Anderson.

Anderson, who ranks second in the Pac-12 in kills per set behind Bricio, came in averaging 4.70 kills per set, while sophomore Reilly Buechler ranked 10th with 3.58 kills per set.

USC neutralized the two and held them to only seven and six kills, respectively. The Women of Troy also outhit UCLA as a team, .267 to .056 on the night.

With the victory, USC now leads the all-time series record against UCLA, 56-49, and have won seven of the last 10 meetings against the Bruins.

Furthermore, under head coach Mick Haley, USC is now 11-4 in conference openers.

The challenging conference slate continues into the weekend for USC as the Women of Troy head up north to face a familiar foe in No. 8-ranked Stanford in Palo Alto on Sunday at 4 p.m.  in a match that will be broadcasted on the Pac-12 Network.

USC and Stanford have both split their matches in the last two years, with the Women of Troy sweeping both matches in 2013 and the Cardinal winning each meeting in 2014.