No. 20 USC Hosts Trojan Invitational at Galen Center

LOS ANGELES – The 20th-ranked USC women's volleyball team (2-3) hosts the Trojan Invitational this weekend at Galen Center (Sept. 13-14). The Women of Troy welcome Yale (0-3), Howard (2-6), and Villanova (5-1) for a round-robin tournament as they look to bounce back after going 1-2 at the UNI Tournament last week. USC is 161-37 at Galen Center since the building opened in 2006 and looks forward to some home cooking after having played five teams to open the season that finished 2018 in the NCAA RPI's top 25. Despite a wealth of experience in its upperclassmen, injury issues have forced the Women of Troy to field a lineup of youth with four freshmen getting significant run through the team's first five contests.

2019 TROJAN INVITATIONAL
Galen Center • Los Angeles, Calif.

MATCH #6
No. 20 USC (2-3) vs. Yale (0-3)
Friday, Sept. 13 • 7:30 p.m. PT
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 2-0 (1.000) • LAST 10: 2-0
LAST MEETING: W, 3-0 (Sept. 9, 2017 • Santa Barbara)
WATCH: Pac-12+ (Hunter Patterson & Carlo Jimenez)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: YaleBulldogs.com

MATCH #7
No. 20 USC (2-3) vs. Howard (2-6)
Saturday, Sept. 14 • 10:30 a.m. PT
SERIES RECORD: First meeting
WATCH: Pac-12+ (Paul Duchesne)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: HUBison.com

MATCH #8
No. 20 USC (2-3) vs. Villanova (5-1)
Saturday, Sept. 14 • 7:30 p.m. PT
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 1-0 (1.000) • LAST 10: 1-0
LAST MEETING: W, 3-0 (Sept. 5, 1997 • North Gym)
WATCH: Pac-12+ (Hunter Patterson & Carlo Jimenez)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: Villanova.com

FIRST SERVE

Second-year USC head coach Brent Crouch is 24-14 at Troy (79-80 career).
The Trojans play their first home matches of the season at Galen Center where they are 161-37 (.813) all-time.
USC's first five matches were against teams that finished 2018 in the top 25 of the NCAA's RPI. Only Creighton and Texas faced as tough a schedule.
The Trojans return two AVCA All-America outside hitters: Sr. Khalia Lanier was a first-team choice in 2017 and Jr. Brooke Botkin was second team in 2018.
USC's sophomore setter Raquel Lázaro was the 2018 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and earned AVCA All-America honorable mention.

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 BRIEFING: The Trojans are loaded at the pins and return a pair of All-American outside hitters in senior Khalia Lanier (4.12 kps) and junior Brooke Botkin (2.90 kps). They will receive sets from the 2018 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Raquel Lázaro (9.95 aps). All four of USC's top attackers return from last season. On the right side, senior Emily Baptista (2.95 kps in 2018) is back and in the middle, senior Jasmine Gross (1.70 kps) returns. Among newcomers, USC welcomes MB Madison Horin, OH Kalen Owes, and OPP Emilia Weske as part of a heralded freshman class. Defensively, the Trojans will add the services of two-time beach volleyball All-American Abril Bustamante and see the return of senior libero Jenna Adams from injury.

LAST TIME OUT: The Women of Troy went 1-2 against a tough field at the UNI Tournament in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Without its starting pin-hitters, USC fought to close four-set losses against No. 12 Kentucky and No. 23 Creighton and claimed a strong four-set win over host Northern Iowa. Without OH Khalia Lanier and OPP Emily Baptista in the lineup, the young Women of Troy garnered significant experience. Freshman libero Keila Barra started against the Wildcats, MB Madison Horin got two starts, and outside hitters Kalen Owes and Emilia Weske each played every available set for the Trojans. Owes racked up her first-career double-double despite receiving the lion's share of serves and led USC in points in two matches. Weske posted 15 kills and hit .402 against the Bluejays and was later chosen to the all-tournament team. Transfer freshman MB Chandlar Huff saw her first collegiate action and impressed with a nine-block performance. In the win over the Panthers, sophomore setter Raquel Lázaro finished the day with 36 assists, 16 digs, and a career-high 11 blocks to record the first USC triple-double in the rally-scoring era.

TOUGH SLEDDING: The Trojans play one of the toughest early-season non-conference slates in the country. USC is one of 10 teams that began the season with back-to-back contests against teams that finished in the top 25 of the NCAA's final 2018 ratings percentage index (RPI). The Trojans are one of only three programs that tackled five straight teams that finished 2018 in the top 25. The other two programs were Texas and Creighton. Among the ranked opponents, USC met No. 3 Texas and No. 22 Texas State on opening weekend and then have No. 8 Kentucky, No. 13 Creighton, No. 16 Northern Iowa this week. USC itself was No. 9 in the final published RPI.

AVCA POLL POSITION: The Trojans opened 2019 ranked No. 14 after finishing the 2018 campaign in the No. 21 spot. Overall, the Trojans have appeared in the poll 515 times, which ranks third all-time. USC has held a spot among the poll's top 10 teams 316 times, which ranks eighth all-time. The Trojans have also held the No. 1 ranking 47 times previously, which is sixth all-time.

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Players Mentioned

Jenna Adams

Emily Baptista

Keila Barra

Brooke Botkin

Jasmine Gross

Madison Horin

Khalia Lanier

Kalen Owes

Emilia Weske