USC Women's Volleyball Hosts Wolverines and Spartans

Friday, October 2

Los Angeles, Calif.

8:00 p.m. PT

USC

Michigan

Tickets From $10

USC women's volleyball setter Lilli Etter sets the ball during a match at Galen Center

Photo by: Bryce Dechert

USC Women's Volleyball Hosts Wolverines and Spartans

September 29, 2026 | Women's Volleyball

#USCWVB Notebook (Sept. 29)2026 USC Schedule Buy Tickets

The Trojans play their first Big Ten matches at Galen Center this week

LOS ANGELES – The USC women's volleyball team (7-5, 1-1 Big Ten) plays its first conference matches at Galen Center this weekend when Michigan (9-4, 0-2) and Michigan State (11-1, 1-1) visit. The Trojans and Wolverines take the floor on Friday night (Oct. 2) for USC's B1G Premiere match which will be shown live on Big Ten Network at 8 p.m. PT. The Women of Troy and the Spartans meet on Big Ten Plus at 2 p.m. PT for USC's first Big Ten Discover Volleyball Challenge match on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 4).

THIS WEEK

MATCH #13 • Friday, Oct. 2 • 8 p.m. PT
USC (7-5, 1-1) vs. Michigan (9-4, 0-2) • B1G PREMIERE
Galen Center • Los Angeles, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 3-0 (1.000)
LAST MEETING: W 3-1 (Nov. 28, 2025 • Ann Arbor, Mich.)
STREAK: Won 3 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 3-0
TV: Big Ten Network (Paul Sunderland & Holly McPeak)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: MGoBlue.com

MATCH #14 • Sunday, Oct. 4 • 2 p.m. PT
USC (7-5, 1-1) vs. Michigan State (11-1, 1-1) • Big Ten Discover Volleyball Challenge
Galen Center • Los Angeles, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 8-2 (.800)
LAST MEETING: W 3-0 (Nov. 26, 2025 • East Lansing, Mich.)
STREAK: Won 1 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 8-2
TV: B1G+ (Makena Arteaga, Grace Schneider, Riley Sager)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: MSUSpartans.com

FIRST SERVE (TL;DR)

USC is led by seventh-year head coach Brad Keller who has the unique experience of having coached both men's and women's programs at both USC and UCLA. Overall, Keller is 117-69 (.629) as the Trojans' head coach.
The Trojans are 235-66 (.781) all-time at Galen Center since it opened in 2006. Last year, USC won 15 matches on its home floor.
The USC-Michigan State match is part of the Big Ten Discover Volleyball Challenge, which takes place during the month of October (and into November). B1G matches played on weekends (Saturday/Sunday) are counted towards the in-season challenge's standings.
The Trojans lead the Big Ten in blocks (3.01 bps) and rank sixth in the NCAA. USC has put up double-digit blocks in five matches this season.
Jr. MB Mia Tvrdy ranks second in the Big Ten for blocks (1.48 bps, 15th in the NCAA) and RS Jr. MB Leah Ford (1.20 bps) ranks 14th in the league.
So. OPP Abigail Mullen is USC's leading scorer at 3.87 points per set. RS Jr. OH London Wijay averages 3.64 pps for second on the team.

LAST TIME OUT: The Women of Troy opened Big Ten play on the road and collected a 3-0 sweep of Northwestern before falling to an upstart Illinois squad in straight sets. USC—beset by injuries—used its fourth and fifth different lineups in the two matches in as many contests. The Trojans racked nine aces and reached double-digit blocks (10.5) in the win over the Wildcats and were led by London Wijay and Mia Tvrdy who each had 11 kills apiece. Taliyah Hanks led all players with seven blocks. Against the Illini, USC was outhit and couldn't overcome a team led by an 18-kill performance from OH Alyssa Aguayo.

BIG TEN DISCOVER VOLLEYBALL CHALLENGE: The Trojans—along with the other 17 Big Ten teams—will participate in the conference's Discover Volleyball Challenge during the month of October. In its second year, the in-season challenge begins Oct. 3 and runs through Nov. 1. Weekend (Saturday/Sunday) conference matches will count toward the standings with each team playing five designated challenge matches throughout the month. The winner will be determined by the highest win total across the five matches with tiebreak procedures in the event two or more teams have the same win total. Last season, both Nebraska and Purdue went 5-0 in challenge matches with the Cornhuskers taking home the trophy after tiebreakers were applied.

BLOCKHEADS: USC leads the Big Ten in blocks (3.01 bps) and has reached double-digit blocks in five contests this fall including a season-high 20.5 in a win over UC Santa Barbara (Sept. 20). The Trojans concluded 2025 as the league's leaders with 2.76 blocks per set.

BUILDING BLOCKS: MB Mia Tvrdy went off for 16 blocks in three sets in a win over UC Santa Barbara on Sept. 20. The otherworldly performance tied the Big Ten's rally-scoring era record set in 2022 (Raven Colvin, Purdue) and was the highest by a USC player in the 25-point era; the most since All-American MB Emily Adams produced 18 blocks during the 30-point era in a five-set match against Washington in 2004. The 16 blocks now sit alone in seventh all-time in the USC record books among totals set during the sideout scoring era, which includes 17 by Leslie Devereaux who had the next highest total more than 40 years ago (Oct. 25, 1985) during a four-set match against none other than UCSB.

HALF-CENTURY HOMECOMING: 2026 marks the 50th anniversary of USC's 1976 AIAW Championship team. The Women of Troy will celebrate and recognize that team during their Alumni Night match against Penn State on Oct. 17 at Galen Center. The 1976 Trojans were the first to receive scholarships and went 34-1 overall with an 8-0 mark in the Western Collegiate Athletic Association (WCAA). USC—coached by Hall of Fame head coach Chuck Erbe with Sherry Calvert as his assistant—defeated UCLA, 2-1, in the championship match in Austin, Texas, to claim the program's first national crown. That squad featured the talents of All-Americans Debbie Landreth, Debbie Green, Terry Place, and Paula Dittmer-Goodwin as well as Lori Jepsen, Julie Morgan, and Lindy Vivas.

CENTURY CITY: Seventh-year head coach Brad Keller reached 100 career wins in USC's 3-1 victory over Washington on Oct. 26, 2025. He is now 117-69 (.629) and is only the fourth USC head coach ever to collect 100 or more wins in school history. Mick Haley (435), Chuck Erbe (310), and Lisa Love (205) are the others. He is now also in position to lead the Trojans to their 1,200th all-time program win.

FRESH DIGS: The Trojans freshman class of setter Milly McGee (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa HS), middle blocker Taliyah Hanks (Kalamazoo, Mich./Loy Norrix HS), outside hitter Layli Ostovar (San Clemente, Calif./Mater Dei HS), outside hitter Riley Malloy (Austin, Texas/Austin HS), and middle blocker Addison Coady (Newport Beach, Calif./Mater Dei HS) comprise the nation's fourth-ranked recruiting class according to PrepDig.com. Ostovar is considered the ninth-ranked recruit out of the 2026 class while Malloy (No. 24) and McGee (No. 27) give the Trojans three in the top 30.