No. 15 USC Braces for Battles with Ducks and Beavers

LOS ANGELES – No. 15 USC (16-7, 8-4 Pac-12) heads to the Beaver State for pivotal Pac-12 matches with No. 16 Oregon (15-7, 8-4) and Oregon State (11-13, 1-11) this weekend. The Trojans are locked in a three-way tie with the Ducks for second place in the league standings (Washington State) and can create some separation with a win on Friday. A win over Oregon would also avenge a sweep by the Ducks at Galen Center earlier this season. USC is 51-11 all-time in the state of Oregon and has won five straight there including 14 of 16 since 2009. The Trojans' last two visits to Eugene have yielded 3-1 victories. USC swept OSU in 2016 but did not make the trip to Corvallis in 2017.

MATCH #24
No. 15 USC (16-7, 8-4) at No. 16 Oregon (15-7, 8-4)
Friday, Nov. 2 • 8 p.m. PT
Matthew Knight Arena • Eugene, Ore.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 53-13 (.803)
LAST MEETING: L, 3-0 (Oct. 7, 2018 • Galen Center)
CURRENT STREAK: Lost 1 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 6-4
TV: Pac-12 Oregon (Rich Burk & Tammy Blackburn)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: GoDucks.com

MATCH #25
No. 15 USC (16-7, 8-4) at Oregon State (11-13, 1-11)
Sunday, Nov. 4 • 12 p.m. PT
Gill Coliseum • Corvallis, Ore.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 54-9 (.857)
LAST MEETING: W, 3-0 (Oct. 4, 2018 • Galen Center)
CURRENT STREAK: Won 6 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 9-1
TV: Pac-12 Networks (Rich Burk & Nicole Rigoni)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: OSUBeavers.com

FIRST SERVE

USC is ranked 15th in the latest AVCA Coaches Top 25 poll. The Trojans face their 15th ranked opponent this season (Oregon); 7 of the last 8.
The Women of Troy are No. 7 in the NCAA's ratings percentage index (RPI).
The Trojans are 8-6 in 14 matches with ranked opponents in 2018.
USC is currently tied for second place in the Pac-12 standings (8-4) with Oregon and Washington State.
The Trojans are 51-11 all-time in the Beaver State and have won five straight in Oregon (since 2015). USC is 14-2 there since 2009 (0-2 in 2014).
The Women of Troy are two wins from reaching 1,050 all-time program victories. USC is currently 1,048-363-4 (.741) all-time.
First-year USC head coach Brent Crouch holds a PhD from Oregon ('06).
Transfer Jr. MB Jasmine Gross' hometown is Portland, Ore. Her parents are the head men's and women's tennis coaches at the University of Portland.
USC is led by So. OH Brooke Botkin (4.38 kps) and Jr. All-American OH Khalia Lanier (4.31 kps). Fr. setter Raquel Lázaro (11.39 aps) runs the Trojan offense. Sr. libero Victoria Garrick (4.81 dps) anchors the defense.

BUT FIRST, LET ME TAKE A #SELFIE: Get social with the Women of Troy! Fans can follow and interact with the USC women's volleyball team on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram by searching for @USCWomensVolley.

USC IN BRIEF: The Trojans are tied for second place in the Pac-12 standings with Washington State and Oregon. All three teams have 8-4 records and are behind only undefeated Stanford (12-0). USC will still play WSU and UO with chances to avenge losses to the teams before season's end. Despite having seven losses on its record, USC holds the nation's No. 7 RPI ranking thanks to having endured an incredibly difficult non-conference schedule. The Trojans were 8-3 in those matches and earned wins over No. 4 Florida and No. 5 Kentucky. The Trojans fell to No. 3 BYU but also claimed victories over No. 13 Creighton and No. 23 San Diego. Under first-year head coach Brent Crouch, USC boasts a formidable offense with All-American OH Khalia Lanier leading the charge (4.31 kps). She is joined on the pins by sophomore standout Brooke Botkin (4.38 kps) and junior transfer Emily Baptista (2.60 kps). Freshman setter Raquel Lázaro has been named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week four times and is third in the league at 11.39 assists per set. On defense, the Women of Troy turn to senior libero Victoria Garrick (4.81 dps). In the middle, transfer Jasmine Gross leads the Pac-12 with 107 total blocks.

LAST TIME OUT: USC split home matches last weekend. The Trojans endured a short two-match skid following a 3-0 sweep by No. 2 Stanford, but bounced back to get a 3-1 win over California. The loss to the Cardinal pushed USC into a tie for second place in the league standings. Against the Golden Bears, Brooke Botkin scored 22 kills and hit a career-high .439 in the win. She also nabbed her 10th double-double of the season with a new career-high 17 digs. Raquel Lázaro also turned in a double-double (her 11th of the season) in the win over Cal with 56 assists and 10 digs. The Trojans' first-set win over the Bears was a 68-rally affair that resulted in 24 tie scores before a 35-33 decision was reached.

AVCA POLL POSITION: The Trojans opened 2018 ranked No. 10 after finishing the 2017 campaign in the No. 7 spot. Overall, the Trojans have appeared in the poll 507 times and have held a spot among the poll's top 10 teams 316 times, which ranks seventh all-time. The Trojans have also held the No. 1 ranking 47 times previously, which is sixth all-time.

PAC-12 POW(ER)S: USC players have received Pac-12 Player of the Week honors 75 times (third most among league teams). Since 2011, when the Pac-12 began honoring separate offensive and defensive players of the week and named a freshman of the week, Trojans have earned 19 offensive awards, 10 defensive awards, and taken home 18 freshman honors. In the first week of the 2018 season, sophomore OH Brooke Botkin received her first-career league honor as the Offensive Player of the Week and freshman setter Raquel Lázaro was chosen for Freshman of the Week honors. Lázaro repeated as the Freshman of the Week in week two and received her third FOW honor on Sept. 24; fourth on Oct. 15.

DOUBLE DOWN: Eight Trojans on this year's squad have recorded career double-doubles. Junior OH Khalia Lanier has eight this season and leads all players with 33-career double-doubles. Sophomore OH Brooke Botkin has recorded 10 double-doubles in 2018 and has 11-career double-double matches. Freshman setter Raquel Lázaro logged her first-career double-double with 53 assists and 22 digs against Creighton and has 11 double-doubles to lead the team this year.

CROUCHING TIGER: First-year USC head coach Brent Crouch led the Trojans to a win over No. 5-ranked Kentucky in his first match at the helm (Aug. 24). In his previous position as Portland's head coach, he led the Pilots to their first-ever wins over ranked opponents including the very first ever; a victory against San Diego (Nov. 14, 2015). The following year, Crouch helped led UP to its first-ever upset of a top-10 opponent on a 3-2 victory at San Diego (Nov. 10, 2016).

TERMINAL 3: USC is the only Pac-12 squad with two players in the top 10 for kills. So. OH Brooke Botkin (4.38 kps) and Jr. OH Khalia Lanier (4.31 kps) rank third and fourth respectively. USC is also one of only three teams (Stanford, Oregon) with three players in the top 25. Jr. OPP Emily Baptista (2.60 kps) ranks 25th in the Pac-12. Together, the three Women of Troy account for 11.29 kills per set.

CAN YOU DIG IT?: Senior libero Victoria Garrick became the 17th player in program history to collect 1,000 career digs in the Trojans' 2017 NCAA second-round match against San Diego. She now has 1,470 career digs and moved into the program's top-10 career ladder in a match against Cal on Sept. 30; passing All-American outside hitters April Ross and Jennifer Kessy. Next on her radar, she needs two digs to surpass Kelly Kuebler and overtake seventh place (1,471 digs; 1992-95). She is also 16 digs from going ahead of Alli Hillgren for sixth place (1,485 digs; 2006-09). Garrick is one of just six Trojans sever to record at least 500 digs in a single season and ranks among greats including Debora Seilhamer, Natalie Hagglund, Taylor Whittingham, Katie Haller, and Hillgren. She had 519 digs in 2017 to rank 10th in USC's single-season record books.

KILLER K: Junior OH Khalia Lanier became the program's 17th player to record 1,000 career kills in the final match of 2017. She is the first Trojan to reach the 1K mark in just her freshman and sophomore seasons. Only one other Trojan collected more than 1,000 kills in her first two seasons with the program. All-American OH Asia Kaczor did so but transferred to Troy and reached the milestone as a junior and senior. Lanier now has 1,381 career kills and needs 92 to overtake 10th place on USC's career ladder (1,472; Megan McCallister, 1987-90). In terms of points, Lanier already ranks fourth (1,550.0) in USC history.

HELPING HAND: Freshman setter Raquel Lázaro dished out 55 assists in her collegiate debut. It was the highest single-match total by a Trojan setter since 2012 (Hayley Crone). She later posted 53 assists to go with 22 digs to post her first-career double-double. She is first in the Pac-12 in total assists with 1,002 and ranks third in the conference with 11.39 assists per set.

1,000 SHIPS: USC's win over ASU on Oct. 5, 2016, was the program's 1,000th all-time victory. The Trojans became just the 17th program in NCAA Division I 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).

HOME, SWEET HOME: The Trojans are 159-34 (.824) all-time 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. The Trojans are 17-3 all-time at Galen Center in NCAA tournament matches. The three losses were to Hawai'i (2008 and 2009) each time in the second round; and to Washington in the 2013 NCAA Regional Final.

THE OREGON TRAIL: One player on the Trojans' roster hails from the Beaver State. Junior transfer MB Jasmine Gross' hometown is Portland. She is only the second letterwinner ever to call Oregon home. Previously, Anna Maria Lopez (1978-81) who is also from Portland, had played for the Women of Troy. First-year head coach Brent Crouch also has a connection to the state. He earned a doctor of philosophy at the University of Oregon in 2006. While in Eugene, Crouch also taught courses in philosophy and served as the head coach of the Oregon men's club volleyball team.

TRANSFERS OF POWER: The Trojans welcome a pair of coveted transfers in 2018. Both juniors and both All-West Coast Conference selections in 2017, USC added the services of MB Jasmine Gross and OH Emily Baptista. Gross ranked fourth in the NCAA in blocks as a sophomore (1.79 bps) and holds several Pepperdine match and single-season records for blocks. Baptista was the leader of the Pacific offense in 2017 and once notched a career-high 26 kills for the Tigers.

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Players Mentioned

Emily Baptista

Brooke Botkin

Victoria Garrick

Jasmine Gross

Khalia Lanier