Sunday, October 15
Los Angeles, CA
3:00 PM
USC
1
vs
3
Stanford
Players Mentioned
OPP
/ Women's Volleyball
OPP
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
L
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's Volleyball
OPP
/ Women's VolleyballPhoto by: Percy Anderson
No. 19 USC Drops Four-Set Decision to No. 3 Stanford
October 15, 2017 | Women's Volleyball, Features
The Women of Troy suffered their first home setback in a four-set loss to the Cardinal
LOS ANGELES – The 19th-ranked USC women's volleyball team (14-5, 6-2 Pac-12) lost in four sets (25-18, 23-25, 25-17, 26-24) to No. 3 Stanford (15-2, 8-0) at Galen Center on Sunday, Oct. 15. It was the first home loss of the season for the Women of Troy, who had previously won six consecutive home contests.
Four Trojans scored at least 10 kills in the match led by sophomore outside hitter Khalia Lanier's 14-kill outing. Lanier also had five digs and a block. Senior opposite hitter Brittany Abercrombie added 12 kills (2e, 27att) and hit .370 to go with three blocks. Senior outside hitter Niki Withers finished the night with 11 kills (1e, 18att) and posted a stellar .556 hitting rate. Withers also had two blocks (one solo) for a total of 12.5 points. Junior outside hitter Alyse Ford had 10 kills to go with seven digs.
USC hit .234 in the match with 52 kills (22e, 128att) and saw action from three setters. Senior Reni Meyer-Whalley had 22 assists and four digs. Sophomore Cindy Marina had 18 assists and served two aces. Freshman Brooke Botkin came in to set during the fourth set and put up four assists. Defensively, junior Victoria Garrick had 15 digs.
For the Cardinal Merete Lutz had 15 kills (1e, 23att) with a .609 hitting percentage. Audriana Fitzmorris had 11 kills (3e, 22att, .364) with eight blocks. Kathryn Plummer finished with 13 kills (10e, 41att, .073). Jenna Gray set Stanford to a .318 hitting percentage and had 45 assists with five kills, an ace, and two blocks.
The Cardinal hit .500 in the opening frame and got five kills from Plummer; four from Fitzmorris, and three from Lutz. USC collected 13 kills and hit .276 (5e, 29att) but had three reception errors and two blocking errors in the 25-18 loss. The Trojans led by as many as three in the second set, but the Cardinal came back and took a three point led itself at 23-20. Lanier's kill followed by a block by senior middle blocker Jordan Dunn and Abercrombie and another Lanier kill knotted the score for a sixth time. Plummer went wide on her next offering before Meyer-Whalley put an ace off the tape for the 25-23 win.
Stanford raced ahead to open the third set, but the Trojans took a brief 11-9 lead before the Cardinal ripped through a 6-0 run to lead for the last time. Lutz scored seven kills in frame and helped the Cardinal hit .325. The Women of Troy earned the first lead of the fourth set but serving woes on both sides of the net swung the momentum in Stanford's favor. The Cardinal's 7-0 run put Stanford on top, 17-12, but the Trojans had an answer as Botkin came in to set the offense. USC fought through the belly of the fourth set and claimed set point at 24-22 on a kill by Abercrombie, but Stanford scored the final four points to close out the 26-24 win.
Up next, the Women of Troy head to the Rocky Mountains to take on Colorado on Friday (Oct. 20) and Utah on Sunday (Oct. 22) to close the first round of Pac-12 matches. The Trojans and the Buffaloes meet at the Coors Events Center in Boulder, Colo., at 7 p.m. PT and will be shown on Pac-12 Los Angeles and Pac-12 Mountain. The Women of Troy and the Utes will meet at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City at noon PT and be shown live on Pac-12 Mountain.
For more information on the USC women's volleyball team and a complete schedule and results, please visit USCTrojans.com. Fans of the Women of Troy can follow @USCWomensVolley on Periscope, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram.
MATCH NOTES
Four Trojans scored at least 10 kills in the match led by sophomore outside hitter Khalia Lanier's 14-kill outing. Lanier also had five digs and a block. Senior opposite hitter Brittany Abercrombie added 12 kills (2e, 27att) and hit .370 to go with three blocks. Senior outside hitter Niki Withers finished the night with 11 kills (1e, 18att) and posted a stellar .556 hitting rate. Withers also had two blocks (one solo) for a total of 12.5 points. Junior outside hitter Alyse Ford had 10 kills to go with seven digs.
USC hit .234 in the match with 52 kills (22e, 128att) and saw action from three setters. Senior Reni Meyer-Whalley had 22 assists and four digs. Sophomore Cindy Marina had 18 assists and served two aces. Freshman Brooke Botkin came in to set during the fourth set and put up four assists. Defensively, junior Victoria Garrick had 15 digs.
For the Cardinal Merete Lutz had 15 kills (1e, 23att) with a .609 hitting percentage. Audriana Fitzmorris had 11 kills (3e, 22att, .364) with eight blocks. Kathryn Plummer finished with 13 kills (10e, 41att, .073). Jenna Gray set Stanford to a .318 hitting percentage and had 45 assists with five kills, an ace, and two blocks.
The Cardinal hit .500 in the opening frame and got five kills from Plummer; four from Fitzmorris, and three from Lutz. USC collected 13 kills and hit .276 (5e, 29att) but had three reception errors and two blocking errors in the 25-18 loss. The Trojans led by as many as three in the second set, but the Cardinal came back and took a three point led itself at 23-20. Lanier's kill followed by a block by senior middle blocker Jordan Dunn and Abercrombie and another Lanier kill knotted the score for a sixth time. Plummer went wide on her next offering before Meyer-Whalley put an ace off the tape for the 25-23 win.
Stanford raced ahead to open the third set, but the Trojans took a brief 11-9 lead before the Cardinal ripped through a 6-0 run to lead for the last time. Lutz scored seven kills in frame and helped the Cardinal hit .325. The Women of Troy earned the first lead of the fourth set but serving woes on both sides of the net swung the momentum in Stanford's favor. The Cardinal's 7-0 run put Stanford on top, 17-12, but the Trojans had an answer as Botkin came in to set the offense. USC fought through the belly of the fourth set and claimed set point at 24-22 on a kill by Abercrombie, but Stanford scored the final four points to close out the 26-24 win.
Up next, the Women of Troy head to the Rocky Mountains to take on Colorado on Friday (Oct. 20) and Utah on Sunday (Oct. 22) to close the first round of Pac-12 matches. The Trojans and the Buffaloes meet at the Coors Events Center in Boulder, Colo., at 7 p.m. PT and will be shown on Pac-12 Los Angeles and Pac-12 Mountain. The Women of Troy and the Utes will meet at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City at noon PT and be shown live on Pac-12 Mountain.
For more information on the USC women's volleyball team and a complete schedule and results, please visit USCTrojans.com. Fans of the Women of Troy can follow @USCWomensVolley on Periscope, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram.
MATCH NOTES
- USC fell to 26-62-1 in all-time matches against Stanford. The Cardinal also won its third straight in the series.
- The Women of Troy dropped to 6-1 at the Galen Center this season and to 145-31 all-time in the building.
- USC played in its 11th four-set match this season.
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