USC Women's Volleyball Fights Through Five-Set Finish to Take Down Iowa

Thursday, October 22

Coralville, Iowa

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

USC

9-10,3-6Big Ten

Iowa

12-11,1-8Big Ten

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Southern California	25	25	16	28	15	3
Iowa	20	22	25	30	9	2

Highlights

Photo by: Alex Renteria

October 22, 2026 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

The Trojans used a 9-0 run to defeat the Hawkeyes on the road

CORALVILLE, Iowa – The USC women's volleyball team (9-10, 3-6 Big Ten) went five sets and used an incredible 9-0 run to win (25-20, 25-22, 16-25, 28-30, 15-9) against Iowa (12-11, 1-8) at Xtream Arena on Thursday, Oct. 22.

KEY PLAYERS

So. OPP Abigail Mullen led all scorers with 20.0 points earned on 16 kills (4e, 35att) with .343 hitting to go with four blocks, two service aces, and a pair of digs. It was her 12th time in double-digit kills and her 15th with double-digit points.
RS Jr. OH London Wijay totaled 19.5 points with a match-high 17 kills with two service aces, four digs, and a block. It was her 11th time in double-digit kills and her 15th in double-digit points.
RS Sr. OH Adonia Faumuina had season highs of 17.0 points, .464 hitting, and 16 kills, to go with five digs and two blocks.
Jr. MB Mia Tvrdy reached double-digit points for the 10th time and put up a season-high 13 kills (1e, 21att) on .571 hitting and added four blocks and a dig.
Fr. S Milly McGee broke the 50-assist mark for the first time and tallied a career-high 51 assists with five digs and a block.
So. LIB Taylor Deckert put up 16 digs for her 14th match in double digits and added a season-best seven assists.
RS Jr. MB Leah Ford collected five kills and had four blocks to contribute 7.0 points.
For the Hawkeyes, Hannah Whittingstall had 16 kills and hit .609 with three blocks. Ksenjia Tomic added 14 kills to go with seven digs. Peyton Young had 12 kills and two blocks and Hallie Steponaitis had 10 kills and five digs. Jenna Meitzler produced a double-double with 48 assists and 11 digs to go with five kills, five blocks, and three service aces.

HOW IT HAPPENED

USC hit .338 over Iowa's .297 and had a slight edge in kills (68-67), assists (64-60), and blocks (8-6). The Hawkeyes totaled eight service aces to the Trojans' five had was plus-nine in digs (52-43).
The Trojans collected a 25-20 win in the opening frame powered by .633 hitting with 20 kills (1e) on 30 attacks. Mullen and Tvrdy each contributed six kills apiece while Wijay tallied four. McGee tossed out 16 assists and the Trojans outhit Iowa, which was .375 with 12 kills (3e) on 24 attacks. The Women of Troy led by as many as four points until a short Hawkeye burst pulled the teams into a 19-all tie. Wijay's service ace put USC on top, 21-19, and the Trojans held on to win.
USC secured a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-22 win in the second. The Trojans hit .333 with 15 kills (3e) on 36 attacks and got five more from Wijay and four from Mullen. Paisley Douglas led the team with four digs and McGee had reached 28 assists through the two frames when the dust had settled. USC led by as many as five points at 15-10, but Iowa chipped away to close within two several times.
The Women of Troy led set three by four points, 10-6, but a big 9-1 run by the Hawkeyes turned the tables and put Iowa in control with a 15-11 lead. The Hawkeyes continued to push and stunned the Trojans to take a 25-16 win in the third. Tomic had five kills while Steponaitis and Whittingstall each had four as part of a .321 Iowa hitting effort. USC was held to .115 hitting and had to contend with the tough serving of the Hawkeyes, which produced three aces.
Iowa rolled out to an early 4-0 lead in set four, but a 10-3 run by the Trojans had USC up, 10-7, to force a Hawkeye timeout. The teams went back and forth for 13 ties in the set, but it was the Trojans who grabbed match point at 24-22 on a kill by Wijay. Three challenges and a timeout later, Iowa had saved five match points and taken set point at 28-27. The Trojans stopped one, but Whittingstall and Tomic collected the final two points of the 30-28 win. Whittingstall had seven kills but Faumuina had eight. USC served three aces and Iowa put up a pair of blocks in the no-holds barred set.
The Hawkeyes flew out to an early 6-2 lead in the fifth set, but USC stayed the course to close within two points at 6-4 when Faumuina and Ford teamed up for the block. Iowa doubled the lead at 8-4 and then held a 9-6 lead before the Women of Troy racked a 9-0 run to shock the Hawkeyes in a 15-9 win. USC hit .400 and got three kills from Tvrdy and two each from Mullen and Wijay. The Trojans tallied three blocks as part of an effort to hold Iowa to negative .176 hitting with just four kills to seven errors on 17 attempts.

UP NEXT

USC heads to Lincoln, Neb., to take on No. 1 Nebraska (20-0, 9-0 Big Ten) at Devaney Center on Saturday (Oct. 24). The Trojans and the Huskers will meet on a nationally televised Big Ten Network broadcast.

MATCH NOTES

USC improved to 3-0 all-time against Iowa with a 2-0 mark as the road team.
The Trojans go to 6-2 all-time in the Hawkeye State and played in the city of Coralville for the first time.
The Women of Troy played their third five-set match of the season and got their first win. USC improves to 161-114 all-time in five-set matches with a 68-56 record on the road. The Trojans also go to 49-44 in five-set contests against Big Ten teams.
Four different USC players reached double-digit kills in the same match for the first time this season.

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.