USC Women's Volleyball Falls to No. 16 Purdue in Straight Sets

Friday, October 9

West Lafayette, Ind.

8:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. PT

USC

7-8,1-4Big Ten

Purdue

9-5,2-3Big Ten

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Southern California	20	17	20	0
Purdue	25	25	25	3

Highlights

USC women's volleyball middle blocker Leah Ford goes up to serve a ball against Purdue at Holloway Gymnasium in West Lafayette, Ind.

Photo by: Brianna Sheu

USC Women's Volleyball Falls to No. 16 Purdue in Straight Sets

October 09, 2026 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score

The Trojans were led by Abigail Mullen’s 10-kill performance in a road loss to the Boilermakers

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The USC women's volleyball team (7-8, 1-4 Big Ten) was defeated in straight sets (25-20, 25-17, 25-20) by No. 16 Purdue (9-5, 2-3) on Belin Court at Holloway Gymnasium on Friday, Oct. 9.

KEY PLAYERS

So. OPP Abigail Mullen led the Trojans with 10 kills and had five digs.
RS Jr. OH London Wijay scored eight kills to go with six digs.
Jr. MB Mia Tvrdy had seven kills (2e) on 13 attacks to hit .385 and picked up two blocks.
RS Jr. MB Leah Ford hit .385 with six kills (1e) on 13 swings and had two blocks.
Fr. S Milly McGee dished out 19 assists and had five digs, two blocks, and a kill.
So. LIB Taylor Deckert led the team with 13 digs.
For the Boilermakers, Lameen Mambu led all players with 13 kills on .375 hitting; Addy Tindall added 12 kills and hit .321 with four blocks (one solo). Grace Heaney totaled 10 kills on .320 hitting and had four digs and three blocks. Taylor Anderson put up 38 assists and had four kills and four digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The first set was tied 11 times, the latest of which came at 16-all, but Purdue scored three in a row to take the lead for good and finished off a 25-20 win. The Trojans came no closer than two points at 20-18 and finished the first with 14 kills (5e) on 34 attacks to register a .265 hitting rate. Wijay had five kills to pace the USC attack while Mullen added four and Tvrdy totaled three. Deckert picked up five of her digs in the opening frame.
Set two was tied for the fourth time at six-all before the Boilermakers took control and claimed a 2-0 lead in the match on a dominant 25-17 win. Purdue hit .433 in the second and totaled 16 kills (3e) on just 30 swings. The Boilers also had four blocks and out-dug USC, 14-9, to hold the Trojans to .103 hitting with 11 kills (7e) on 39 attempts. This time, Mullen and Ford each shared the team lead with three kills apiece.
Purdue sealed the sweep on a 4-1 run that ended set three, 25-20, in favor of the Boilermakers. Tindall racked six kills and Mambu had five to put up 11 of Purdue's 14 kills (5e, 34att, .265). USC got three apiece from Mullen and Wijay but hit just .081 with 11 kills (8e) on 37 attempts. Deckert had five more digs to lead the USC defensive effort.

UP NEXT

USC meets No. 15 Indiana (10-4, 3-2 Big Ten) on Sunday (Oct. 11) at 2 p.m. ET (11 a.m. PT) at Wilkinson Hall in Bloomington, Ind. The match will be shown live on Big Ten Network and is the Trojans' second match in the Big Ten Discover Volleyball Challenge.

MATCH NOTES

USC falls to 6-3 all-time against Purdue and has lost three in a row to the Boilermakers. The Trojans go to 3-2 against Purdue as the road team and has lost each of the three matches in 3-0 sweeps.
The Women of Troy fall to 12-3 in the state of Indiana with a 7-2 mark in West Lafayette (both losses to Purdue).
The match was the first to go on the head coaching record for interim head coach Megan Moenoa.

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.