Check out this week's volleyball top plays
LOS ANGELES — USC women's volleyball (8-5, 2-1 Pac-12) earned its first win over a ranked opponent, upending No. 8 Washington (10-3, 1-2) in four sets (25-21, 18-25, 25-19, 25-23) at Galen Center on Friday. The victory keeps the Trojans undefeated at home in five matches this season.
KEY PLAYERS
- Junior OH Brooke Botkin recorded a season-high 19 kills and hit .262 to go with seven digs and a block.
- Senior OH Khalia Lanier turned in a 15-kill performance and had five digs and a block.
- Sophomore setter Raquel Lázaro put up 42 assists and logged her seventh double-double of the season (19th career) with 14 digs and added three kills and five blocks (one solo).
- Senior libero Raegan LeGrand picked up 10 digs.
- Freshman MB Madison Horin had five blocks and three kills; and freshman MB Chandlar Duff had five blocks and one kill.
- For the Huskies, Kara Bajema led with 14 kills and had the double-double with 11 digs. Samantha Drechsel had 11 kills and five digs. Washington served eight aces in the match from six different players.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Women of Troy broke the sixth tie of the first set and led by as many as six points en route to a 25-21 win. Lanier and Botkin each had six kills in the first frame as the Trojans out-hit the Huskies, .333 to .067.
- Washington turned the tables in the second set and led by as many as eight points. Four players had three kills or more as the Huskies evened the match with a 25-18 win in the second set.
- The third set was tied 13 times before the Trojans broke away on the power of freshman libero Keila Barra's 6-0 service run for a 25-19 win. Botkin added six kills and Lanier had five in the third. USC's four blocks held UW to a negative .059 attack.
- USC picked up four more blocks and got five more kills from Botkin in the fourth set. Botkin's kill gave USC match point at 24-22 and it was her last shot that landed to seal a 25-23 win for the Trojans.
HISTORY MADE: Undefeated Baylor is No. 1 for the first time in program history | Full Top 25
UP NEXT
- The Trojans remain home to face No. 24 Washington State (12-3, 1-2 Pac-12) on Sunday, Oct. 6, at 3 ET. The Cougars fell in a 3-0 sweep to UCLA on Friday. The USC-WSU match will be shown live on the Pac-12 Networks.
MATCH NOTES
- USC improved to 42-28 all-time against Washington and to 24-11 in home matches against the Huskies.
- The Women of Troy improved to 5-0 at home this season and are now 166-37 all-time at Galen Center.
- The Trojans' win over No. 8-ranked UW is the team's first over a ranked opponent this season and the first since a 3-2 win over No. 14 Arizona on Nov. 16, 2018.
- USC's victory is the 30th for second-year head coach Brent Crouch who is now 30-16 at Troy (85-82 career).
ON WISCONSIN: How No. 13 Wisconsin dominated No. 5 Penn State in four sets
