USC Women's Volleyball's Mia Tvrdy Earns First Big Ten Player of the Week Award

ROSEMONT, Ill. – USC women's volleyball junior middle blocker Mia Tvrdy (La Vista, Neb./Papillion-La Vista HS) was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week for the week of Sept. 14-20, the Conference announced on Monday, Sept. 21.

Tvrdy's selection is the first of her career and the first by a USC player in 2026. It pushes the Trojans' all-time Big Ten weekly awards total to 16. In its first year as conference members, USC had four selections in 2024 and produced 11 award winners in 2025.

This week, Tvrdy tied the Big Ten's rally-scoring era record for blocks in a match with 16 (one solo) in a three-set win against UC Santa Barbara. It was the highest total by a Big Ten player since Raven Colvin (Purdue) set the record at 16 during a four-set match with Maryland in 2022. Including records from the sideout-scoring era, the 16 blocks tied the second-highest total by a Big Ten player and tied for the third best individual performance.

In the USC record books, Tvrdy set the single-match record for blocks in the rally-scoring 25-point era and had the highest rally-scoring (30-point era included) total since All-American MB Emily Adams had 18 in a five-set match in 2004. Including the sideout-scoring era, Tvrdy's 16 blocks rank seventh all-time at USC and would be the highest total since Leslie Devereaux had 17 in 1985. In three matches, Tvrdy totaled 23 blocks in 10 sets to average 2.30 blocks per set and logged a career-high four digs in the 3-0 win against UCSB. She also collected 22 kills to average 3.45 points per set in the three contests.

The No. 23-ranked Women of Troy (6-4) open Big Ten play on the road this week and will start with Northwestern (7-4) on Thursday (Sept. 24) when the Trojans and the Wildcats meet at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill., for a 7 p.m. CT (5 p.m. PT) match. From there, USC heads to Champaign, Ill., to take on Illinois (8-3) at Huff Hall on Saturday (Sept. 26) at 7 p.m. CT (5 p.m. PT). Both matches will be shown live on Big Ten Plus streams. USC is 36-14 in all-time conference openers and is 15-9 when it opens league play on the road.

USC BIG TEN VOLLEYBALL WEEKLY AWARDS

2024 (4)
Mia Tuaniga, Setter of the Week (Sept. 23)
Jadyn Livings, Freshman of the Week (Sept. 23)
Mia Tuaniga, Setter of the Week (Nov. 4)
Ally Batenhorst, Player of the Week (Nov. 4)

2025 (11)
Leah Ford, Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 1)
Reese Messer, Freshman of the Week (Sept. 22)
London Wijay, Player of the Week (Oct. 20)
Taylor Deckert, Freshman of the Week (Oct. 20)
Reese Messer, Freshman of the Week (Oct. 27)
London Wijay, Player of the Week (Nov. 3)
Reese Messer, Co-Setter of the Week (Nov. 3)
Abigail Mullen, Freshman of the Week (Nov. 10)
Leah Ford, Defensive Player of the Week (Nov. 24)
Reese Messer, Setter of the Week (Dec. 1)
Abigail Mullen, Freshman of the Week (Dec. 1)

2026 (1)
Mia Tvrdy, Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 21)

For more information on the USC women's volleyball team, please visit USCTrojans.com/WVB. Fans of the Women of Troy can follow @USCWomensVolley on X, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

USC Women's Volleyball's Mia Tvrdy Earns First Big Ten Player of the Week Award

Players Mentioned

Taylor Deckert

Leah Ford

Reese Messer

Abigail Mullen

Mia Tvrdy

London Wijay

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