No. 23 USC Women's Volleyball Hosts No. 6 Badgers and No. 11 Ducks

LOS ANGELES – The No. 23-ranked USC women's volleyball team (17-7, 9-5 Big Ten) hosts No. 6 Wisconsin (18-5, 12-2) and No. 11 Oregon (18-5, 10-4) for a pair of ranked matchups at Galen Center this week. The Trojans and the Badgers meet on Thursday (Nov. 14) at 8 p.m. PT for a special Trojan Dark Mode match that will be shown live on Big Ten Network. The Women of Troy then host the Ducks on Sunday (Nov. 17) at 1 p.m. as they seek to avenge a road loss to Oregon (Oct. 9) last month. USC's Sunday matinee will be shown live on Big Ten Plus.

THIS WEEK
MATCH #25 • Thursday, Nov. 14 • 8 p.m. PT
No. 23 USC (17-7, 9-5) vs. No. 6 Wisconsin (18-5, 12-2)
Galen Center • Los Angeles, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: USC trails, 3-5 (.375)
LAST MEETING: L 1-3 (Sep. 18, 2014 • Seattle, Wash.)
STREAK: Lost 4 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 3-5
TV: Big Ten Network (Paul Sunderland & Holly McPeak)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: UWBadgers.com

MATCH #26 • Sunday, Nov. 17 • 1 p.m. PT
No. 23 USC (17-7, 9-5) vs. No. 11 Oregon (18-5, 10-4)
Galen Center • Los Angeles, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 56-21 (.727)
LAST MEETING: L 3-0 (Oct. 9, 2024 • Eugene, Ore.)
STREAK: Lost 3 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 2-8
TV/STREAM: Big Ten Plus (Thomas Johnson)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: GoDucks.com

FIRST SERVE (TL;DR)

USC is led by fifth-year head coach Brad Keller who has the unique experience of having coached both men's and women's programs at both USC and UCLA. Overall, Keller is 80-54 (.597) as the Trojans' head coach.
The Trojans are 214-59 all-time at Galen Center (.784) and won nine straight home matches between Sept. 12 and Oct. 13. USC is 10-3 at home this fall.
Sr. S Mia Tuaniga has started as the Trojans' setter for each of the last three seasons and has 4,254 career assists to rank third in school history.
Gr. OH Ally Batenhorst ranks ninth in the Big Ten for kills (3.77 kps) and is seventh in the league for points (4.47 pps).
Redshirt Fr. MB Leah Ford leads USC (5th in Big Ten) in hitting (.391) and ranks fourth in the league for blocks (1.42 bps).
Sr. MB Tyrah Ariail is eighth in the Big Ten in blocks (1.23 bps).
USC ranks second in the Big Ten (4th in the NCAA) for blocks at 2.95 bps and has reached double-digit blocks in 16 matches this season.
The Trojans have held opponents to .169 hitting to rank third in the Big Ten.

LAST TIME OUT: USC split conference road matches in the Midwest with a narrow five-set loss at Illinois and a four-set victory at Indiana. In the win over the Hoosiers, Ally Batenhorst logged her third 20-kill match of the season and produced her eighth double-double of the year with a career-best 18 digs. The Trojans hit .312 as Mia Tuaniga put up 46 assists for the team's seventh match over .300 hitting. Tyrah Ariail scored 10 kills on .769 hitting and led the Trojans on back-to-back nights with six blocks against both the Illini and the Hoosiers. Against Illinois, USC scored a season-high 17 service aces for the most since the team had 15 in a win over Colorado in 2022. The Trojans also had 14.5 and 12.0 blocks in back-to-back matches to reach double-digit blocks for the 16th time this fall.

ONCE AROUND THE BLOCK: The Trojans' 2.95 blocks per set ranks second in the Big Ten and rank fourth nationally. In 24 matches, USC has reached double-digit blocks 16 times including season-highs of 19.5 blocks twice; vs. Kansas State (Sept. 6), vs. Loyola Marymount (Sept. 19).

B1G AND SMALL: Only three Big Ten teams hold winning records against the Trojans. Wisconsin has the best win percentage of the three with a 5-3 mark against USC. Illinois is 4-3 and Penn State is 3-2 against the Women of Troy.

AVCA POLL POSITION: The Trojans opened the 2024 season ranked No. 21 in the AVCA coaches' poll. Overall, USC has appeared in the coaches' poll 538 times, which ranks sixth all-time. The Women of Troy have held a spot among the poll's top 10 teams 317 times, which ranks eighth all-time, and the Trojans have held the No. 1 ranking 47 times for seventh all-time. Since 1982—the year of the poll's inception—USC has appeared in the final poll 34 of 41 times with 18 finishes in the top 10; 12 in the top five, and twice as the No. 1-ranked team (2002, '03).

HOME, SWEET HOME: USC is 214-59 (.784) all-time at Galen Center. The Trojans were 11-2 at home a year ago. USC 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 20-4 all-time at Galen Center in NCAA tournament matches. The four losses were to Hawai'i (2008 and 2009) and San Diego (2018) each time in the second round; and to Washington in the 2013 NCAA Regional Final.

FREQUENT FLIERS: The arrival of the Trojans and three former Pac-12 teams into the Big Ten meant more travel and time in the air for all teams. To date, USC has flown 14,930 miles (or 24,029 kilometers) for travel to road matches. By the end of the regular season, the Women of Troy will have flown 20,485 miles (32,968 km).

LONG DISTANCE: USC is 156-110 all-time in five-set matches: 66-41 at home; 66-55 on the road; 24-14 in neutral matches. The Trojans were 6-5 in 11 five-set matches in 2023, which tied a school record previously set in 2019. Against Big Ten opponents, USC is 46-41 all-time in five-set contests.

FIGHT ON!, WISCONSIN: Did you know? In Disney's 1973 animated feature Robin Hood, USC's fight song Fight On! and Wisconsin's fight song On, Wisconsin are each played during what is known as the "escape scene." In it, Lady Kluck, Maid Marian's lady-in-waiting runs through a gauntlet of Prince John's rhinoceros and elephant soldiers to the two songs as if she is a running back on a football field.

RANK AND FILE: Of the Trojans' seven losses this season, five have come against ranked opponents. Those include No. 1 Pittsburgh at home (Sept. 11), No. 2 Nebraska on the road (Sept. 29), No. 3 Penn State at home (Oct. 26), No. 11 Creighton in Omaha, Neb. (Sept. 5), and No. 11 Oregon on the road (Oct. 9). The Bluejays later moved up as high as No. 6 in the weekly rankings. USC is otherwise 16-2 against unranked opponents this season and picked up its first victory over a ranked opponent in a four-set win against No. 12 Minnesota (Oct. 5).

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Players Mentioned

Tyrah Ariail

Ally Batenhorst

Leah Ford

Mia Tuaniga