No. 16 USC Women's Volleyball Falls to No. 23 Colorado

Saturday, September 12

Los Angeles, Calif.

6:00 p.m. PT

USC

3-3,0-0Big Ten

Colorado

8-0,0-0Big 12

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Colorado	26	23	25	26	3
Southern California	24	25	13	24	1

Photo by: Bryce Dechert

No. 16 USC Women's Volleyball Falls to No. 23 Colorado

September 12, 2026 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

The Trojans suffered a four-set loss to the Buffaloes at Galen Center

LOS ANGELES – The 16th-ranked USC women's volleyball team (3-3) dropped a four-set decision (26-24, 23-25, 25-13, 26-24) to No. 23 Colorado (8-0) at Galen Center on Saturday, Sept. 12.

KEY PLAYERS

So. OPP Abigail Mullen led all players with 19.5 points earned on 17 kills (5e, 34att) with .353 hitting, three blocks, and a service ace. She also added seven digs on defense.
RS Jr. OH London Wijay tallied 13 kills, nine digs, four blocks, and a service ace.
RS Jr. MB Leah Ford had seven kills and led all players with eight blocks to go with two digs and a service ace.
Jr. S Lilli Etter put up 34 assists and had six digs, two kills, a block, and a service ace.
So. LIB Taylor Deckert had 10 digs to reach double-digits for the fifth time in six matches.
For the Buffaloes, Ana Burilovic had 15 kills to lead the team and added nine digs, two blocks, and a service ace. Lily Dwinell hit .257 and had 12 kills and four blocks. Sydney Jordan posted 11 kills on .429 hitting and had a pair of blocks. Tinons Munar Galmes led all players with 12 digs and put up seven assists.

HOW IT HAPPENED

It took seven ties and six lead changes to decide the opening set, but it went Colorado's way when the Buffaloes used a 6-1 run to turn the tables and take a 26-24 win. USC got six kills from Mullen, four from Ford, and hit at a .220 clip (17k, 8e, 41att), but CU racked four blocks and hit .289 with 14 kills (3e) on 38 swings to get the job done. The Trojans led by as many as four at 6-2 and had a three-point lead at 23-20.
The Trojans evened the match with a gutty 25-23 win in the second set. Wijay and Mullen each had four kills apiece as USC tallied 14 kills (9e) on 34 swings. The Women of Troy had four blocks (one more than the Buffaloes) and held CU to a .167 hitting percentage (10k, 5e) on 30 attempts. USC—which led by as many as four points—allowed the Buffalo to roam all the way back within a point at 24-23 before a CU service error ended the set.
Colorado came out and took a commanding 7-0 lead in the third and went in front by as many as 12 and then held on to win by 12, 25-13. Burilovic delivered six kills while Dwinell had four to lift CU to a .320 hitting rate. The Buffaloes put up three blocks and maintained solid service pressure to keep the Trojans at bay.
The teams went back and forth for 14 ties in the fourth set, but Colorado hit a scorching .444 in the frame with 15 kills (3e) on just 27 attempts to collect a 26-24 win and close out the match. USC hit .250 and got six kills from Mullen, five from Wijay, and a pair from Quinn Loper. The Trojans used a late burst to go ahead, 23-22, but service errors left the finish in the balance before back-to-back Buffalo blocks closed down the night.

UP NEXT

USC concludes the weekend against Oregon State (4-4) on Sunday (Sept. 13) with a 2 p.m. matinee contest. The match will be shown live on Big Ten Plus.

MATCH NOTES

USC fell to 23-5 all-time against Colorado and has lost back-to-back matches to the Buffaloes for the first time in the head-to-head series. It is also CU's first-ever win at Galen Center and moves the Trojans to 14-1 in home matches.
Colorado has won four of the last six meetings with the Trojans.
USC goes to 232-65 all-time at Galen Center.
The Women of Troy met the Buffaloes for the first time since 2023 when both teams were still members of the Pac-12.

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.