USC Women's Volleyball Completes Five-Set Comeback Win Over No. 4 Cougars

Friday, October 20

Los Angeles, Calif.

7:00 PM

USC

12-7,6-3Pac-12

Washington State

17-3,7-2Pac-12

Washington St.

Southern California

Photo by: Harrison Cho

USC Women's Volleyball Completes Five-Set Comeback Win Over No. 4 Cougars

October 20, 2023 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

The Women of Troy took down a top-five ranked opponent for the first time since 2018

LOS ANGELES – The USC women's volleyball team (12-7, 6-3 Pac-12) took down fourth-ranked Washington State (17-3, 7-2) in a thrilling five-set comeback victory, 17-25, 14-25, 25-22, 25-23, 15-8, at Galen Center on Friday, Oct. 20. It was the Trojans' first win over a top-five opponent since 2018.

KEY PLAYERS

Sr. OH Skylar Fields led USC with 21 kills and added 15 digs and a block for her fourth double-double of the season (14th career). It was her 48th time in double-digit kills as a Trojan and her 27th time with 20 or more kills in a match.
Jr. S Mia Tuaniga posted 48 assists to go with 15 digs for her seventh double-double of the season (22nd career) and added two blocks and a kill.
So. MB Rylie McGinest played the back three sets and had career-high marks of 12 kills, 17 attacks, and a .706 hitting percentage (0 errors). She also added three digs and was credited with an assist.
Fr. OH London Wijay returned to action after missing the last six matches and finished the night with 12 kills, nine digs, and a service ace for a total of 13.0 points.
So. MB Tyrah Ariail had a team-best five blocks and hit .429 with seven kills (1e) on 14 swings.
Gr. DS/LIB Ellie Snook put up 14 digs—her eighth time in double-digits this season—and added four assists and two aces.
So. DS Ellie Geoghegan came off the bench and racked up a season-best eight digs with one assist and two aces.
For the Cougars, Pia Timmer led with 18 kills and added eight digs and four blocks. Iman Isanovic had 13 kills with 11 digs. Magda Jehlarova posted 11 kills and hit .500 with five blocks. Lana Radakovic led all players with 10 blocks.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Trojans collected more kills (64-58) than the Cougars and had the edge in assists (61-50), digs (78-68) and service aces (7-4). Washington State put up 16.5 blocks to USC's 5.0.
WSU hit .353 in the first set and got five kills apiece from Timmer and Katy Ryan. The Trojans had six kills from Fields and five digs from starting LIB Gala Trubint, but fell to the Cougars, 25-17.
Washington State put up four blocks in the second set to hold USC to a .037 hitting output (8k, 7e) on 27 swings and were never tied and never trailed en route to a 25-14 win for a 2-0 lead in the match.
USC had 18 kills in the third but also registered 10 hitting errors against WSU's 7.5 blocks. McGinest had six of her kills and Fields added five more to go with eight digs to help buoy the Trojans to a 25-22 win.
In the fourth, the teams went toe-to-toe but the Trojans got a 25-23 win to force set five. USC hit .389 with 16 kills (2e) on 36 attacks while WSU had 15 kills (2e) on 40 attacks to hit .325. McGinest racked up another six kills and the Trojans had four aces to go with four more kills from Fields in the win.
The Women of Troy had nine kills (1e, 15att) and hit .533 in the fifth set. Fields had five of those kills herself while Wijay added two kills and a service ace in a 15-8 win. Washington State managed six kills but hit four errors to register a .105 hitting percentage in the loss.

UP NEXT

USC hosts Washington (13-7, 4-5 Pac-12) for Sunday Funday (Oct. 22) at 2 p.m. PT. The Trojans look to snap a five-match streak of losses to the Huskies and will be shown live on a USC live stream.

MATCH NOTES

USC improved to 53-19 all-time against Washington State and went to 31-5 all-time at home over the Cougars.
The Trojans and the Cougars played a five-set match for the fifth time in the teams' last 11 meetings. The previous four were all WSU victories including a five-set USC loss to the Cougars at Galen Center last year (Sept. 24, 2022). USC goes to 5-7 all-time in five-set matches with Washington State.
The Women of Troy remain undefeated at home and improved to 7-0 at Galen Center this fall.
USC earned its first win over an AVCA top-five team since a four-set victory over fourth-ranked Florida in Gainesville, Fla., on Aug. 31, 2018. It was also the Trojans' first win over a Pac-12 opponent ranked in the top five since a four-set win over a fifth-ranked Washington on Oct. 4, 2015.
The Trojans improved to 5-2 in seven five-set matches this season; 4-1 against Pac-12 opponents. USC goes to 151-105 in all-time five-set matches including a 61-39 record at home.
USC won its ninth straight home match (Nov. 12, 2022) and collected the program's 200th all-time win at Galen Center to improve to 200-54 all-time.

For more information on the USC women's volleyball team and a complete schedule and results, please visit USCTrojans.com/WVB. Fans of the Women of Troy can follow @USCWomensVolley on Facebook, X, and Instagram.