No. 23 USC Women's Volleyball Whips Up 3-0 Sweep of Wildcats

Thursday, September 24

Evanston, Ill.

7:00 p.m. / 5:00 p.m. PT

USC

7-4,1-0Big Ten

Northwestern

7-5,0-1Big Ten

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Southern California	25	25	25	3
Northwestern	20	19	16	0

Highlights

Photo by: Bryce Dechert

No. 23 USC Women's Volleyball Whips Up 3-0 Sweep of Wildcats

September 24, 2026 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

The Trojans opened Big Ten play with a straight-set win over Northwestern on the road

EVANSTON, Ill. – The 23rd-ranked USC women's volleyball team (7-4, 1-0 Big Ten) swept Northwestern (7-5. 0-1) in straight sets (25-20, 25-19, 25-16) at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Thursday, Sept. 24.

KEY PLAYERS

RS Jr. OH London Wijay scored 13.0 points earned on 11 kills (2e, 31att, .290) and had six digs, two blocks, and a service ace. It was her sixth match in double-digit kills and her ninth in double-digit points.
Jr. MB Mia Tvrdy also had 13.0 points on 11 kills (1e, 17att) with .588 hitting and added two blocks, two digs, and her first-career service ace. She reached double-digit kills for the second time this season and for the seventh time in her career.
So. OPP Abigail Mullen had nine kills with five digs, two blocks, and an ace for her ninth match in double-digit points.
Fr. OH Riley Malloy scored 11.5 points on seven kills (3e, 16att, .250) and added three digs, three blocks, and three service aces—her second straight match with three or more aces.
Fr. MB Taliyah Hanks led all players with seven blocks and added four kills (1e, 12att) to hit .250.
So. LIB Taylor Deckert had eight digs and three assists. RS So. DS Paisley Douglas had seven digs and an assist.
Jr. S Lilli Etter put up 21 assists to go with four digs, two blocks, and an ace. Fr. S Milly McGee had 13 assists to go with two digs, two blocks (one solo), and two kills.
For the Wildcats, Mara Stiglic had nine kills (3e, 18att, .333) with three digs and three blocks. Hayley Schaaf had four kills. Lauren Dignan led all players with 12 digs and added a pair of assists.

HOW IT HAPPENED

USC hit .290 over NU's .066 and had more kills (44-23), assists (40-22), service aces (9-2), and blocks (10.5-4.0) than the Wildcats. Both teams totaled 39 digs apiece.
The Trojans took set one, 25-20, after they pulled away on a 5-0 run to take a 20-14 lead. USC registered five service aces and had three blocks in a set where it hit just .171 with 11 kills (5e) on 35 attacks. Both teams had 15 digs, but the Trojans held the Wildcats to a .069 hitting percentage with eight kills (6e) on 29 attempts. Wijay had five kills to lead USC while Tvrdy had three. Hanks had three blocks and a kill while Malloy had a kill and an ace.
USC went in front, 2-0, on a hard-fought 25-19 finish in set two. The Wildcats had an early 6-4 lead, but the Trojans pulled away to lead by four at 21-17 on a sharp angle shot from Wijay. She would collect one more kill for USC's 23rd point and her fifth kill of the frame. Mullen and Tvrdy each had four kills apiece to help lift the Trojans to .444 hitting (16k, 4e) on 27 swings. USC had two blocks and a slight 6-5 edge in digs to keep NU at .087 hitting with seven kills (5e) on 23 attempts.
The Women of Troy never trailed to rack a 25-16 win in the third to close out the sweep. The Trojans hit .289 and had 17 kills (4e) on 45 attacks led by four kills each from Mullen, Tvrdy, and Malloy. USC put up five blocks with three from Hanks—who also had two kills—to keep the Wildcats under .100 at .051 with just eight kills (6e) on 39 attacks. Douglas had five of her digs in the third while Wijay tallied four and Deckert three.

UP NEXT

USC heads to Champaign, Ill., to take on Illinois (9-3, 1-0 Big Ten) at Huff Hall on Saturday (Sept. 26) at 7 p.m. CT (5 p.m. PT). The match will be shown live on Big Ten Plus. The Illini defeated 15th-ranked Minnesota in four sets tonight.

MATCH NOTES

USC improved to 4-0 all-time against Northwestern.
The Trojans go to 37-14 all-time in conference openers; 16-9 when they open league play on the road. Under seventh-year head coach Brad Keller, USC goes to 4-3 in conference openers with a 2-1 mark in Big Ten openers.
USC moved to 5-2 in three-set matches this season.
The Trojans go to 5-3 all-time in the state of Illinois with a 2-0 mark in the city of Evanston.
The Women of Troy reached double-digit blocks for the fifth 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.