USC Women's Volleyball Drops Five-Set Battle with Ohio State

Friday, October 16

Los Angeles, Calif.

7:00 p.m. PT

USC

8-9,2-5Big Ten

Ohio State

10-7,3-4Big Ten

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Ohio St.	25	22	25	24	15	3
Southern California	17	25	21	26	11	2

Highlights

Photo by: Amara Grover

USC Women's Volleyball Drops Five-Set Battle with Ohio State

October 16, 2026 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

London Wijay had 20 kills and hit .262 in a five-set loss to the Buckeyes

LOS ANGELES – The USC women's volleyball team (8-9, 2-5 Big Ten) fell to Ohio State (10-7, 3-4) in five sets (25-17, 22-25, 25-21, 24-26, 15-11) at Galen Center on Friday, Oct. 16.

KEY PLAYERS

RS Jr. OH London Wijay totaled a season-high 20 kills (4e, 61att) and hit .262 to go with eight digs and four blocks. She finished with 22.0 points and reached 20-plus kills for the sixth time in her career.
So. OPP Abigail Mullen scored 16.5 points earned on 15 kills (3e, 41att, .293) to go with three blocks and eight digs.
Fr. S Milly McGee dished out 37 assists and had 11 digs to log her first-career double-double. She also had five blocks and a service ace to total 3.5 points.
So. LIB Taylor Deckert put up a season-best and match-high 20 digs to go with a kill and a service ace. It was her fourth-career match with 20-or-more digs.
RS Jr. MB Leah Ford led all players with eight blocks (one solo) and added five kills to account for 9.5 points.
Jr. MB Mia Tvrdy had six kills and five blocks for 8.5 points.
For the Buckeyes, Naomy Govou had a match-high 25 kills to go with 10 digs for the double-double. Aneta Valentova and Hannah Jones each had 12 kills apiece while Valentova led Ohio State with five blocks (three solo). Kalli Joishvili Ravva had 11 kills and 14 digs. Bailey Nakanelua put up 54 assists to go with 16 digs, four kills, and a service ace.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Ohio State hit .242 over USC's .178 and totaled more kills (73-54), assists (65-53), digs (74-62), and service aces (5-3) than the Women of Troy. The Trojans reached double-digit blocks for the ninth time this season and finished with a 14-9 edge.
The Trojans led set one by as many as three points at 11-8, but a 7-1 run by the Buckeyes put Ohio State in control the rest of the way for a 25-17 win. OSU hit .314 and got four kills apiece from Valentova and Joishvili Ravva while USC had just six kills with three from Wijay in a .067 hitting performance. Nakanelua herself put up eight assists and led all players with seven digs to go with three kills.
It took eight ties before USC claimed its first lead of set two at 21-20. From there, the Trojans held on to even the match on a 25-22 win on a block from McGee and Tvrdy. USC hit .265 in the second and got five kills from Mullen, three from Wijay, and two each from Adonia Faumuina and Tvrdy. The Trojans put up three blocks and had 14 digs as part of an effort to hold Ohio State to a .154 hitting rate.
Down four at 10-6, USC ripped through an 8-0 run to lead by four at 14-10, but Ohio State responded with a 10-2 burst to go on top, 20-16. The set's fourth tie came at 21-all but the Buckeyes claimed the final four points to win, 25-21, for a 2-1 lead in the match. Wijay tallied five kills and Faumuina had three, but USC hit just .042 in the frame while Ohio State totaled 15 kills on .122 hitting to top the Trojans.
The Women of Troy trailed in set four by as many as six points at 18-12 but stayed the course and equalized for the set's first tie at 24-all. Tvrdy and Wijay teamed up for a block to put set point on the board before Deckert delivered an ace to seal a 26-24 win for the Trojans. USC hit .317 and totaled 17 kills (4e) on 41 attacks in the fourth; a set in which Wijay tallied eight kills on 16 swings without an error. USC put up 3.5 blocks and scored twice on aces to send the match to set five.
Ohio State took charge early in the fifth and went up by six points at 10-4. The Trojans chipped away and pulled within a single point at 11-12, but the Buckeyes claimed the final three points to close out the victory. Mullen had three kills while Ford had a pair in the fifth. Govou led all players with six kills on just nine swings in the fifth.

UP NEXT

USC takes on No. 15 Penn State (12-5, 4-3 Big Ten) at Galen Center on Saturday (Oct. 17) at 4 p.m. PT on Big Ten Network. The Trojans and the Nittany Lions will meet as part of the Big Ten Discover Volleyball Challenge. The Saturday bout is also USC's alumnae match and the Dig Pink match.

MATCH NOTES

USC falls to 6-3 all-time against Ohio State and lost to the Buckeyes at home for the first time in four meetings.
The Trojans and the Buckeyes played their third five-set match (2007, '24) and Ohio State won for the first time.
USC goes to 0-2 in five-set matches this season; both played at home. All-time, the Trojans go to 160-114 in five-set matches; 69-44 at home. Against Big Ten foes, USC moves to 48-44 in five-setters.
The Trojans reached double-digit blocks (14.0) for the ninth time this fall.

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, TikTok, and Instagram.