USC Women's Volleyball Meets Iowa and No. 1 Nebraska in Road Bouts

Thursday, October 22

Coralville, Iowa

6:00 p.m. CT / 4:00 p.m. PT

USC

Iowa

USC women's volleyball outside hitter Adonia Faumuina prepares to receive serve in a match against Ohio State at Galen Center.

Photo by: Ahana Sur

October 20, 2026 | Women's Volleyball

#USCWVB Notebook (Oct. 20)2026 USC Schedule

The Women of Troy own two road victories in Big Ten play

LOS ANGELES – USC (8-10, 2-6 Big Ten) returns to the Midwest for matches at Iowa (12-10, 1-7) and No. 1 Nebraska (19-0, 8-0). The Trojans take on the Hawkeyes Thursday (Oct. 22) at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa, at 6 p.m. CT (4 p.m. PT) on Big Ten Plus. The Trojans then head to Lincoln, Neb., to meet the Huskers at Devaney Center on Saturday (Oct. 24) at 8 p.m. CT (6 p.m. PT). The USC-Nebraska match will be shown live on Big Ten Network.

THIS WEEK

MATCH #19 • Thursday, Oct. 22 • 6 p.m. CT/4 p.m. PT
USC (8-10, 2-6) at Iowa (12-10, 1-7)
Xtream Arena • Coralville, Iowa
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 2-0 (1.000)
LAST MEETING: W 3-1 (Oct. 17, 2025 • Iowa City, Iowa)
STREAK: Won 2 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 2-0
TV/STREAM: Big Ten Plus
OPPONENT WEBSITE: HawkeyeSports.com

MATCH #20 • Saturday, Oct. 24 • 8 p.m. CT/6 p.m. PT
USC (8-10, 2-6) at No. 1 Nebraska (19-0, 8-0)
Devaney Center • Lincoln, Neb.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 5-4 (.556)
LAST MEETING: L 3-0 (Nov. 16, 2025 • Galen Center)
STREAK: Lost 3 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 5-4
TV: Big Ten Network (Larry Punteney & Mac Podraza)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: Huskers.com

FIRST SERVE (TL;DR)

USC is led by fourth-year associate head coach Megan Moenoa who was named the Trojans' interim head coach on Oct. 5, 2026.
The USC-Nebraska match is part of the Big Ten Discover Volleyball Challenge, which takes place during the month of October (and into November). B1G matches played on weekends (Saturday/Sunday) are counted towards the in-season challenge's standings. USC is 1-2 in challenge matches.
The Women of Troy will face the No. 1-ranked team in the country for the 34th time. USC owns eight (8-25) wins against No. 1 including once against the top-ranked Huskers on Dec. 11, 2004, in Louisville, Ky.
USC is 5-2 in the state of Iowa and is 7-8 in the state of Nebraska.
The Trojans rank second in the Big Ten in blocks (2.86 bps) and rank 11th in the NCAA. USC has put up double-digit blocks in nine matches this season.
Jr. MB Mia Tvrdy ranks fourth in the Big Ten for blocks (1.32 bps) and RS Jr. MB Leah Ford (1.30 bps) ranks fifth in the league.
So. OPP Abigail Mullen is USC's leading scorer at 3.73 points per set. RS Jr. OH London Wijay averages 3.47 pps for second on the team.

LAST TIME OUT: The Women of Troy took back-to-back home losses at Galen Center with a five-set decision against Ohio State and a 3-0 sweep at the hands of 15th-ranked Penn State. Milly McGee posted her first-career double-double with 37 assists and 11 digs against the Buckeyes while London Wijay totaled a season-high 20 kills and Taylor Deckertcollected a season-best 20 digs against OSU. The Trojans racked 14.0 blocks against the Buckeyes for their ninth match in double-digit blocks. Wijay had 11 kills and 11 digs in the match with the Nittany Lions for her 19th-career double-double.

BIG TEN DISCOVER VOLLEYBALL CHALLENGE: The Trojans—along with the other 17 Big Ten teams—are participating in the conference's Discover Volleyball Challengeduring the month of October. In its second year, the in-season challenge begins Oct. 3 and runs through Nov. 1. Weekend (Saturday/Sunday) conference matches will count toward the standings with each team playing five designated challenge matches throughout the month. The winner will be determined by the highest win total across the five matches with tiebreak procedures in the event two or more teams have the same win total. Last season, USC was 4-1 in challenge matches while both Nebraska and Purdue went 5-0 with the Cornhuskers taking home the trophy after tiebreakers were applied. Through one match, the Trojans are 1-2 in this year's challenge.

BLOCKHEADS: USC ranks second in the Big Ten in blocks (2.86 bps) and is 11th in the NCAA. The Trojans have reached double-digit blocks in nine contests this fall including a season-high 20.5 in a win over UC Santa Barbara (Sept. 20). The Trojans concluded 2025 as the league's leaders with 2.76 blocks per set.

ONE AND ONLY: USC takes on No. 1 Nebraska this week. The Trojans have previously faced the nation's No. 1-ranked team 33 times and played their first No. 1-ranked team on Dec. 19, 1982, in that fall's NCAA championship match; a five-set loss to Hawai'i. Overall, USC is 8-25 in those 33 contests with a 4-10 mark when it hosts No. 1 at home. When No. 1 teams visit Galen Center, USC is 3-4 with wins over California (2011), UCLA (2012), and Stanford (2012). The four losses were to Stanford in 2010 and 2014, to Pittsburgh in 2024, and to Nebraska in 2025. On the road, the Trojans are 2-12 against No. 1 (wins at Cal Poly in 1985 and at Long Beach State in 1993). USC is 2-3 against No. 1 in neutral locations.

OH! SO CORNY: The Trojans are 7-8 in 15 matches played in the Cornhusker State. USC is 4-1 in Lincoln and 3-7 in Omaha. In 2017 and 2022, the Trojans played at D.J. Sokol Arena as part of a rotating tournament that included USC, Creighton, Kentucky, and Northern Iowa. The Women of Troy made trips to Lincoln in 1985 and 2003. Four Trojans have come from the state of Nebraska including two current players in DS/LIB Paisley Douglas (Omaha) and MB Mia Tvrdy (La Vista).

I-O-WAY: USC has gone 5-2 in seven matches played in the Hawkeye State. The Trojans are 4-2 in Cedar Falls and 1-0 in Iowa City. The Trojans will play in Coralville for the first time when it takes on Iowa. USC has never had a player on roster from state of Iowa.