USC
Arizona
No. 16 USC Wins In Four On Senior Day
November 28, 2009 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 28, 2009
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LOS ANGELES -- In her final regular season home appearance, senior All-American Jessica Gysin (Los Gatos/St. Francis HS) had a career-high 23 kills to go with 16 digs Saturday as the No. 16 USC Women of Troy defeated the No. 19 Arizona Wildcats, 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 36-34, 25-23), in a Pac-10 Conference match at the Galen Center.
Senior libero Alli Hillgren (Rancho Santa Fe/Francis Parker HS) recorded 34 digs, two away from her career best for USC (21-9, 10-8), who finished the regular season with a six-match winning streak and a fifth-place finish in the Pac-10.
Sophomore setter Kendall Bateman recorded career-highs with 62 assists and 15 digs. Sophomore outside hitter Alex Jupiter had 23 kills with 13 digs while Lauren Williams had 12 kills against one error for a team-high .393 clip (12-1-28).
Tiffany Owens led Arizona (19-10, 8-10) with 22 kills and 14 digs while Whitney Dosty had 20 kills and 10 digs with four block assists. Paige Weber posted 59 assists for the Wildcats while Courtney Karst added 11 kills. Senior libero Alanna Resch had 22 digs.
Arizona took the 10-7 lead in the first set with a 4-1 run. USC would tie it at 15-15 on Owens' hitting error, but the Wildcats would swing out ahead and take the 21-18 lead. Kimmee Roleder made it 22-20, but a USC hitting error put the Wildcats ahead by three. Audrey Eichler stuffed Stephanie Snow's attempt for a 24-23 score before Owens gave the Wildcats the first set victory.
Both teams played evenly to an 11-11 score in the second set. Jupiter's service error gave the Wildcats a four-point lead at 16-12. USC would compile a 5-1 run to even the set again at 17-17. At 20-20, Jupiter used back-to-back terminations to give the Trojans the lead. Courtney Karst's hitting error gave set point to the Women of Troy and Williams tied the match with the kill.
Down 12-11 in the third, Arizona rolled out four straight points to lead, 16-13. Norton kept the Wildcats ahead by two with a kill for the 19-17 score. Jupiter brought USC back to the 19-19 tie. Owens hit an overpass to keep Arizona ahead by two at 23-21, but an Eichler/Roleder block and Gysin kill tied it at 23-23. Jupiter knocked in a kill from the back row for set point, but Dosty sent the set into some extra play. Owens then gave UA set point, but Gysin tied it at 25-25. Owens put Arizona back on top with a kill, but a Wildcat error and Williams put set point in favor of the Trojans. Owens tied it and Jupiter used a solo block to put the advantage back to USC, 28-27. Dosty delivered from the back row and Weber went cross court and the 29-28 Arizona lead. Roleder and Jupiter went back-to-back and a 30-29 score for the Trojans. Two straight backrow kills by Owens swung the momentum back to the Wildcats before Gysin tied it at 31-31. An Arizona hitting error gave USC its fifth set point before Dosty tied it at 32-32. Snow stuffed Eichler to give the Wildcats their fifth set point, but UA faltered with a service error on the next play. Owens recorded another kill, but Gysin tied it once more at 34-34. Jupiter then came back with two straight kills to end the draining set for a 2-1 lead in the match.
In the fourth set, back-to-back errors gave Arizona the 5-2 lead. Gysin responded with two straight kills, followed by another Eichler/Roleder block for a 7-7 tie. Bateman snuck a kill for the 10-9 Trojan advantage. Owens tied it at 11-11 before the Women of Troy scored three straight points, capped by Geena Urango's service ace. The Trojans would not relinquish the lead although the Wildcats fought back and kept the deficit at one throughout the latter part of the set. A service error by the Wildcats gave match point at 24-22. Dosty put her final kill down before Gysin wrapped up the win with one down the line.
USC will find out its postseason fate tomorrow when ESPNEWS announces the 2009 NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament bracket at noon Pacific time.
Notes: Alex Jupiter now has 494 kills on the season, tied for the fifth-most in USC history (tied with Jasmina Marinkovic, 1998)...Jupiter's 576.0 points for the season put her third on the single-season list, just passing Bibiana Candelas (575.0 in 2005)...Jupiter's 1,193 attempts put her ninth on USC's single-season list, three behind Katie Haller (1992) for eighth and 10 behind Staci Venski (2005) for seventh...Kendall Bateman now has 1,351 assists for the season, putting her in fifth place on USC's single-season list...Bateman needs 28 assists to tie Monika Cavaliere (1994).
UA 25-22-34-23USC 23-25-36-25
Records: USC (21-9, 10-8), Arizona (19-10, 8-10)Kills: Jessica Gysin/Alex Jupiter 23 (USC), Tiffany Owens 22 (UA)
Team: UA USC1 .184 .1402 .255 .2933 .225 .2904 .222 .324Match .224 .261
USC head coach Mick Haley post-match quotes
"It was really strange because I thought we got stronger in that third set. The more it went back and forth, the more energized we got even though we couldn't do what we really wanted to do. They made some great shots and defensive plays. We got the win by just keeping the intensity on (Arizona). Jessica was brilliant tonight. She had two big blockers on her all night. She hit everything we have been trying to get her to hit and, of course, there was Alex who has been carrying us. Our middles learned some things tonight. Since they have a big middle, they could slow us down a bit so we had to pick our spots. I thought Kendall did another good job."
"I thought it looked like a football game after Kendall took one off the nose and Jessica got hit in the neck. When two teams are slugging it out at the end, it's amazing what can happen and I think the fans got their money's worth today."
"Alli got aced a few times in the first set, but she came back nicely for us on Senior Day. I thought she was really good defensively and Jessica was tremendous at the net."
"It's great (finishing the season with a six-match winning streak) because usually team die out at the end. This same team died at the end last season and it looks like they learned some significant things this year. We have grown as a team, but I have to hand it to the seniors who continued to compete in practice which was an inspiration to the rest of the players. I think that's how we got over the hump."
