Trojans Take on Cougars and Huskies at Galen Center

LOS ANGELES – The 20th-ranked USC women's volleyball team (10-3, 2-0 Pac-12) rides a three-match winning streak into the second week of league play and hosts Washington State (12-2, 1-1) and No. 6 Washington (12-1, 2-0) for 1 p.m. PT matches this Saturday (Sept. 30) and Sunday (Oct. 1). The Trojans and Cougars will appear on the Pac-12+ streaming platform. USC-UW will be shown live on Pac-12 Network nationally, and on the Los Angeles and Washington Pac-12 channels. The Trojans-Huskies matchup is also PINK DAY at Galen Center. The Women of Troy will don pink warm-up shirts to ring in the month of October, which is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The first 500 fans through the doors will also receive a special limited edition PINK DAY T-shirt.

The Trojans are stacked at the pins and rely heavily on OH Khalia Lanier (4.24 kps) and OPP Brittany Abercrombie (2.98 kps) to drive the attack. Setters Reni Meyer-Whalley (6.18 aps) and Cindy Marina (5.48 aps) run USC's 6-2 system in which libero Victoria Garrick puts up 4.11 digs per set.

LAST TIME OUT: The Trojans opened Pac-12 play with a thrilling five-set comeback win over crosstown rival No. 11 UCLA on Wednesday (Sept. 20). It was the fourth five-set match between the bitter rivals in their last six meetings, but USC used a balanced attack to claim the fourth set and then forged ahead for a 15-11 win in the final frame. With three days between contests, the Trojans were well rested for a home league opener against Oregon State on Sunday (Sept. 24). USC dropped a tight 26-24 decision to the Beavers in the second set, but won the other three with strong play from Brittany Abercrombie and Victoria Garrick. The two Trojans were later chosen as the Pac-12 Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week respectively; the first such awards of their careers.

1,000 SHIPS: USC's win over Arizona State on Oct. 5, 2016, was the program's 1,000th all-time victory. The Trojans became just the 17th program in NCAA Division I women's volleyball history to reach the 1K milestone. USC is the owner of six national championships (three AIAW and three NCAA) and has won eight conference crowns including two since the inception of the Pac-12 (2011 and 2015). Head coach Mick Haley has led USC to each of its 100-win milestones since the program's 600th victory. The Trojans won their 800th, 900th, and 1,000th all in home matches under Haley's direction.

900 CLUB: USC head coach Mick Haley ranks third in career NCAA Division I victories (942) among active coaches behind only Penn State's Russ Rose and Navy's Larry Bock. Haley is in his 34th season as a Division I coach, but has 41 years of overall coaching experience and is 1,290-332-1 (.796) in all matches including men's and women's at Kellogg Community College.

HOME, SWEET HOME: The Trojans have enjoyed the comforts of home to the tune of a 142-30 (.826) all-time record at the Galen Center. When it comes to the volleyball court, the Women of Troy are less than hospitable to their visitors. The Trojans went 12-1 in home matches in 2011 and completed the 2012 home schedule with a 17-1 mark. In 2007, USC was 19-0 at home on the way to an appearance in the NCAA national semifinal match.

ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS: Women of Troy racked up non-conference tournament awards in the season's opening weekend (Aug. 25-26). Sophomore OH Khalia Lanier took home MVP honors and was joined on the USC/LMU All-Tournament Team by junior OH Alyse Ford and senior OPPs Brittany Abercrombie and Niki Withers. Lanier was also chosen to the Bluejay Invitational All-Tournament Team for the second weekend of the season (Sept. 1-2). Lanier, senior MB Jordan Dunn, and junior libero Victoria Garrick were each named to the UCSB Thunderdome Classic all-tournament team. Lanier and Abercrombie rounded out the non-conference slate with selections to the Maryland Challenge all-tournament team. Lanier was the only Trojan to be chosen to all four pre-conference tournament teams.

PAC-12 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Following the season's first weekend, sophomore OH Khalia Lanier was honored as the Pac-12's Offensive Player of the Week. It was her first-career POW award after having received one Freshman of the Week award in 2016. Lanier was named the MVP of the USC/LMU Tournament following three matches in which she hit .400 with 4.36 kills per set. Lanier also logged her 17th-career double-double (19k, 12d) against the Wolverines. On Sept. 25, senior OPP Brittany Abercrombie (offensive) and junior L Victoria Garrick (defensive) were each named Pac-12 Player of the Week for the first times in their careers. Abercrombie led the Trojans with career marks of 18 kills in back-to-back wins over No. 11 UCLA and Oregon State. Garrick posted 18 digs and 10 assists in the win over the Bruins to become the first USC libero to record a double-double since three-time All-American Natalie Hagglund did so on Sept. 2, 2012. The three selections for weekly honors bring USC's all-time total to 71, which ranks third in Pac-12 history.

AVCA POLL POSITION: The Trojans opened 2017 unranked in the AVCA's Preseason Coaches Top 25 Poll; the first time that USC has not stood inside the top 25 since the poll's inception in 1982. The program's previous lowest preseason ranking was No. 21 in 1999. USC entered the 2017 rankings in the first regular-season poll (Aug. 28) and were ranked No. 18. Overall, the Trojans have appeared in the poll 486 times and have held a spot among the poll's top 10 teams 312 times, which ranks seventh all-time. The Trojans have also held the No. 1 ranking 47 times previously, which is sixth all-time.

FIRST SERVE

The Trojans moved up one spot and are ranked No. 20 in this week's AVCA Coaches Top 25 poll. Washington is No. 6 and Washington State is unranked.
USC only faced UW and WSU once each in 2016 and lost to both teams (Washington at Galen Center; Washington State in Pullman, Wash.).
The USC-Washington match is the Trojans' PINK DAY MATCH; the team's first match in October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
USC is 2-0 in Pac-12 matches. It was 0-2 after the first weekend in 2016.
The Trojans are 3-0 at Galen Center this fall (142-30 al-time since 2006).
Sr. OPP Brittany Abercrombie (Off.) and Jr. L Victoria Garrick (Def.) were chosen for their first-career Pac-12 Player of the Week awards (Sept. 25).

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Players Mentioned

Brittany Abercrombie

Jordan Dunn

Alyse Ford

Victoria Garrick

Khalia Lanier

Cindy Marina

Reni Meyer-Whalley

Niki Withers