No. 23 USC Women's Volleyball Breaks Down Bobcats for Four-Set Win

Friday, September 13

Los Angeles, Calif.

7:00 p.m.

USC

5-2,0-0Big Ten

Ohio

3-4,0-0MAC

Ohio

Southern California

Photo by: Drake Lee

No. 23 USC Women's Volleyball Breaks Down Bobcats for Four-Set Win

September 13, 2024 | Women's Volleyball

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Ally Batenhorst led the Trojans with a career-high 17 kills in a win over Ohio at Galen Center

LOS ANGELES – The No. 23-ranked USC women's volleyball team (5-2) claimed a four-set win (23-25, 25-17, 26-24, 29-27) over Ohio (3-4) to complete play in the USC/LMU Classic at Galen Center on Friday, Sept. 13.

KEY PLAYERS

Gr. OH Ally Batenhorst matched her career high with 19.5 points gained on a career-high 17 kills (3e) on 40 swings with two service aces and a block; and secured her third double-double of the year (fifth of her career) with 11 digs. She also put up a career high three assists in out-of-system rallies.
Sr. S Mia Tuaniga dished out 41 assists to go with seven digs, four blocks (two solo), and four kills (0e, 7att, .571).
Gr. OH Grae Gosnell posted a season-high 15 digs and had two assists.
Redshirt Jr. MB Tyrah Ariail scored season-bests of 12 kills (1e, 18att) and .611 hitting with four digs, and three blocks.
Fr. OH Jadyn Livings got her first collegiate start and finished with career bests of 12 kills and seven digs.
For the Bobcats, Kam Hunt led with 12 kills and had a double-double with 10 digs. Kendall Hickey had floor exploration covered and led all players with 21 digs to go with five assists. Bryn Janke dished out 16 assists to go with seven digs and had two kills.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Trojans led in all statistical categories and finished with more kills (60-46), assists (54-39), digs (54-51), blocks (9-7), and service aces (8-2) than the Bobcats.
Ohio was the definition of efficient and claimed set one, 25-23, behind scorching .517 hitting with 16 kills (one error) on 29 swings. Hunt had six of those kills on just nine attempts to lead all scorers. The Trojans dug up 11 balls in the opening frame but were only one better than Hickey who turned in 10 of the Bobcat's 18 digs herself. For the Trojans, Ariail had four kills on six attacks and Livings added three kills on 10 swings.
USC flipped the script and attacked at a .433 rate in set two and bagged 17 kills in a 25-17 win. Ariail and Batenhorst each had four kills apiece. Batenhorst dug up five balls while Livings put up four and added three kills on five swings. Pietsch entered the match to score three kills as the Trojans evened the match.
Batenhorst poured in six kills on 10 swings while Gosnell cleared the Sephora makeup sale rack with eight digs in a 26-24 win. The Trojans hit .300 to outpace the Bobcats' .242 percentage and USC had three blocks to Ohio's one.
Set four was tied 13 times before the lead changed hands for the fourth and final time as USC completed a 29-27 victory. Batenhorst had five more kills and added five digs and Tuaniga handed out 15 assists. At the net, the Trojans had four blocks including the final point of the match when Batenhorst and Ariail teamed to turn away Olivia Gardner's attack.

UP NEXT

The Trojans co-host the Trojans/Lions Invitational next week and welcome Loyola Marymount (Sept. 19), UNLV (Sept. 20), and UC San Diego (Sept. 21) to Galen Center for matches. All three contests are set for 7 p.m. PT starts and will be carried live on Big Ten Plus (B1G+) with links available at USCTrojans.com.

MATCH NOTES

USC and Ohio met for the first time.
The Trojans won their second straight home match at Galen Center and improved to 206-56 all-time in the arena.

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.