USC Women's Volleyball Earns Desert Split with Five-Set Win Over Arizona

Sunday, October 8

Tucson, Ariz.

12:00 PM

USC

11-5,5-1Pac-12

Arizona

6-11,1-5Pac-12

Southern California

Arizona

Photo by: Thomas Fernandez/Arizona State Athletics

USC Women's Volleyball Earns Desert Split with Five-Set Win Over Arizona

October 08, 2023 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

The Trojans fought it out for a 3-2 win over the Wildcats behind 23 kills from Skylar Fields and a double-double from Mia Tuaniga

TUCSON, Ariz. – The USC women's volleyball team (11-5, 5-1 Pac-12) completed a five-set win (24-26, 25-12, 25-20, 20-25, 15-9) over Arizona (6-11, 1-5) at McKale Center on Sunday, Oct. 8.

KEY PLAYERS

Sr. OH Skylar Fields led all players with 23 kills (4e, 46att) and .413 hitting to go with nine digs, one block, and a service ace. It was her 45th time in double-digit kills as a Trojan and her 25th time over the 20-kill mark.
Jr. S Mia Tuaniga put up 46 assists with 12 digs for her sixth double-double of the season (21st career) and matched her career high with six kills (1e, 12att, .417) and added three blocks and a service ace.
So. MB Tyrah Ariail put up 11 kills (1e, 22att) and hit .455 with four blocks and a career-best two service aces.
Jr. OH Katelyn Smith had nine kills (2e, 20att) for .350 hitting to go with two digs, a block, and a service ace.
So. LIB Gala Trubint posted 16 digs for her 37th-career match in double-digit digs (12th this season) along with five assists.
For the Wildcats, former Trojan OH Jordan Wilson led with 20 kills (9e, 44att, .250). Sofia Maldonado Diaz had 16 kills but also had 10 errors (43att) to hit .140 and posted the double-double with 10 digs and two service aces. Jaelyn Hodge added 12 kills (3e, 34att, .265) with six digs and three blocks. Ana Heath had 45 assists and 12 digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Trojans hit .331 with 62 kills to outpace the Wildcats' 59 kills on .213 hitting and out-dug Arizona, 55-44. The 'Cats had more blocks (8-7) and more service aces (7-6).
USC seized early control of the first set and led by as many as seven points at 16-9, but Arizona chipped away and earned a tie at 22-all before closing out a 26-24 comeback win. Fields had seven of her kills in the first set and USC put up five of its seven blocks, but Arizona caught fire down the stretch to take the opening frame.
Fields had four kills and Ariail added three as the Trojans hit .500 (11k, 2e, 18att) to get a big 25-12 win in set two. USC ended the set on an 8-0 run with Ariail collecting a pair of service aces. Arizona had eight kills and eight errors to hit .000.
Both teams hit over .400 and had 15 kills apiece in set three, but the Trojans came away with the 25-20 win to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Tuaniga had four of her kills in the third while Ariail, Smith, and Fields each added three apiece. Trubint had her biggest set with six digs in the third set alone.
The fourth was tied nine times but Arizona broke a 14-all tie to take the final lead and finished with a 25-20 win to force set five. Maldonado Diaz had five kills and Wilson added four more to help the Wildcats get the win.
Set five was tied five times before the Women of Troy pulled away to get a 15-9 win on the road. Fields had five of the Trojans' 10 kills as USC hit .556 in the fifth without an error (18att). Timely digs helped the Trojans keep the 'Cats at a .136 hitting percentage and secure the win.

UP NEXT

USC heads to Northern California to take on Stanford (13-2, 6-0 Pac-12) at Maples Pavilion (Stanford, Calif.) on Friday (Oct. 13) at 8 p.m. PT. The Trojans cross to the East Bay for a Sunday-matinee meeting against California (12-5, 1-5) on Sunday (Oct. 15) at 2 p.m. at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, Calif. Both matches will be shown live on the Pac-12 Networks. The USC-Cal matchup is another reunion as the Trojans face Golden Bears assistant coach Savannah Rennie who served as a volunteer assistant coach at USC in 2022.

MATCH NOTES

USC improved to 72-22 all-time against Arizona and has won 10 in a row over the Wildcats. The Trojans go to 29-15 as the road team in the all-time series.
The Women of Troy go to 4-2 in five-set matches this season and to 150-105 in all-time five-setters (66-52 as the road team). USC improved to 12-8 in five-setters against Arizona and has won the last five in a row.
The Trojans improved to 62-26 all-time in the state of Arizona.
Wildcat OH Jordan Wilson was a Pac-12 All-Freshman performer as a Trojan in 2022. She transferred to Arizona in June.

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.