No. 22 USC Women's Volleyball Takes On Ducks and Bruins in Mid-October Bouts

LOS ANGELES – No. 22-ranked USC (10-4, 1-3 Big Ten) takes on a pair of familiar foes this week when Oregon (11-3, 2-2) visits Galen Center for a Thursday-night bout (Oct. 9) before the Women of Troy head across town to take on rival UCLA (8-6, 2-2) for a Saturday matinee meeting (Oct. 11). The Trojans dropped both home matches last weekend to Indiana and Purdue and look to pick up a pair of much-needed league victories this time around. Both matches are national television broadcasts with Thursday night on FS1 and Saturday on NBC.

THIS WEEK

MATCH #15 • Thursday, Oct. 9 • 6 p.m. PT
No. 22 USC (10-4, 1-3) vs. Oregon (11-3, 2-2)
Galen Center • Los Angeles, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 57-21 (.731)
LAST MEETING: W 3-2 (Nov. 17, 2024 • Galen Center)
STREAK: Won 1 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 2-8
TV: FS1 (A.J. Kannell & Anna Connelly)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: GoDucks.com

MATCH #16 • Saturday, Oct. 11 • 12 p.m. PT
No. 22 USC (10-4. 1-3) at UCLA (8-6, 2-2)
Pauley Pavilion • Los Angeles, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 66-58 (.532)
LAST MEETING: W 3-0 (Oct. 31, 2024 • Pauley Pavilion)
STREAK: Won 2 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 7-3
TV: NBC (Kevin Barnett, Holly McPeak & Heather Cox)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: UCLABruins.com

FIRST SERVE (TL;DR)

USC is led by sixth-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 95-61 (.609) as the Trojans' head coach.
The Trojans' assoc. head coach Spencer McLachlin was an assistant for the UCLA men (2018-21) and assoc. head coach Megan Moenoa was a setter for the Bruins (2011-14) and won the 2011 NCAA championship. UCLA assistant coach Stevi Robinson-Trail was an All-American for USC beach.
The Trojans are ranked No. 22 in the AVCA Coaches Poll.
USC is 7-2 at home. The Women of Troy are 223-62 (.782) all-time at Galen Center since the arena opened in 2006.
The Trojans have reached double-digit blocks in eight matches and rank second in the Big Ten in blocks per set (2.84 bps), 14th nationally.
Redshirt So. MB Leah Ford leads USC (5th in the Big Ten) in blocks (1.30 bps).
Fr. OPP Abigail Mullen is the Trojans' leading scorer at 4.06 points per set and ranks 13th in the Big Ten. She leads the conference with 0.55 aces per set.

LAST TIME OUT: USC hosted a surging Indiana squad and 13th-ranked Purdue for its first Big Ten home matches at Galen Center and fell to the Hoosiers in four sets and to the Boilermakers in three. It was the first time the Trojans have taken back-to-back losses this fall and has USC on a six-set losing streak entering this week. The Women of Troy claimed a 25-15 win over Indiana to open the weekend but the Hoosiers outblocked the Trojans, 12.0 to 9.5, and held USC to .192 hitting in the win. USC's middles both hit .500 and went off against the Hoosiers as Mia Tvrdy racked up a career-high 17 kills and Leah Ford scored 10 kills. It was the first Indiana win in four matches between the teams. Abigail Mullen topped all Trojans with 10 kills against Purdue, but the Boilers hit .287 and put up 11 blocks in the sweep. It was Purdue's second straight 3-0 win over USC after having lost the previous six meetings with the Women of Troy.

AVCA POLL POSITION: The Trojans open the 2025 season ranked No. 21 in the AVCA coaches' poll—the same position it held to open the 2024 season. Overall, USC has appeared in the coaches' poll 549 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 35 of 42 times with 18 finishes in the top 10; 12 in the top five, and twice as the No. 1-ranked team (2002, '03).

CENTURY CITY: Sixth-year head coach Brad Keller is 95-61 and needs five wins to reach 100 in his career. Only three other coaches have ever collected 100 or more wins in USC history: Mick Haley (435), Chuck Erbe (310), and Lisa Love (205). At 95 wins, Keller is already the fourth-winningest coach in program history.

PLUCKY DUCKS: Since 2019, USC and Oregon have played five-set matches seven times, and but one have gone the Ducks' way; four times at Galen Center and twice in Eugene. Prior to the recent plethora of marathon matches with Oregon, USC owned a dominant 55-13 all-time record in the head-to-head history. The Trojans are now 57-21 against the Ducks (7-6 in five-setters) including a 28-9 mark in Eugene. From Oct. 26, 1990, to Oct. 12, 2007, the Women of Troy won 34 consecutive matches over the Ducks.

AGREE TO DISAGREE: The Women of Troy lead the all-time series with rival UCLA by a 66-58 margin. Ask someone in blue and gold and they'll tell you otherwise. The Bruins claim to lead the series, 69-66, but how? UCLA's program, which started in 1972, is several years older than the one at USC, which began in 1976. The Bruins earned a handful of victories over the Trojans before the Women of Troy officially started a varsity program. In those four seasons, the Bruins racked up 11 wins against USC's club team, which are included in UCLA's all-time record.

CROSSTOWN CONNECTIONS: USC head coach Brad Keller has the unique distinction of having coached both the men's and women's volleyball programs at both USC and UCLA. Prior to his arrival at USC, he served one season (2019) as UCLA's associate head coach. The Trojans' associate head coach Spencer McLachlinalso has UCLA ties having served as an assistant coach for the Bruin men (alongside Keller in his first season) for three years (2018-21). Assistant coach Megan Moenoa was a standout setter for the Bruin women and helped UCLA capture the 2011 NCAA championship. She graduated from UCLA in 2015. First-year UCLA assistant coach Stevi Robinson-Trail was a 2013 AVCA All-American with the USC beach volleyball program. She won the AVCA's individual national championship with partner Kirby Burnham in her only season at Troy.

No. 22 USC Women's Volleyball Takes On Ducks and Bruins in Mid-October Bouts

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Players Mentioned

Leah Ford

Abigail Mullen

Mia Tvrdy

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University Southern California Trojans

No. 22 USC Women's Volleyball Takes On Ducks and Bruins in Mid-October Bouts

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Leah Ford

Abigail Mullen

Mia Tvrdy

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