UCLA women’s volleyball (9-6, 3-2 Big Ten) returns to Pauley Pavilion on Saturday, fresh off upsetting No. 14 Minnesota on Wednesday, to face No. 22 USC (11-4, 2-3). Both the Bruins and Trojans lost to the Hoosiers and Boilermakers last week before sweeping their respective midweek opponent. Daily Bruin senior staffer Kai Dizon gives his take on USC’s squad.
USC
Coach: Brad Keller (96-61 record at USC)
Starting Lineup: OH London Wijay, DS Gala Trubint, OPP Abigail Mullen, S Reese Messer, L Taylor Deckert, MB Leah Ford, MB Mia Tvrdy
Strength: Blocking
Weakness: Depth and experience
X-Factor: S Reese Messer
Following their third straight NCAA tournament appearance, the Trojans had quite a bit of turnover in the offseason. Seven players left the program – four to graduation and three to the transfer portal.
In Keller’s attempt to replace the likes of All-American honorable mention outside hitter Ally Batenhorst and third-team All-American setter Mia Tuaniga, USC added six freshmen and one transfer.
Reese Messer, who took home Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors on Sept. 22, has become the everyday setter for the Trojans, with her 10.27 assists per set ranking sixth in the Big Ten.
Freshman opposite hitter Abigail Mullen paces the team with 3.94 points per set – a figure helped by her 0.52 service aces per frame, the second-best mark in the conference.
However, she also has the sixth most service errors in the conference – further plaguing USC’s conference-worst aces-to-errors ratio of 0.42 – and just a .184 hitting percentage.
Still, Mullen’s 161 kills lead USC, with redshirt sophomore outside hitter London Wijay close behind at 160. But despite two potent attackers, the Trojans remain in the middle of the pack with their 12.93 kills per set and 0.242 hitting percentage, ranking 12th and 14th in the conference, respectively.
Middle blocker Mia Tvdry – USC’s lone transfer addition – is second only to fellow middle blocker Leah Ford in hitting percentage with a .311 mark. But Ford’s .400 mark and middle blocker Rylie McGinest’s .310 round out the only three hitting percentages above .300 for the Trojans – and McGinest hasn’t appeared since Oct. 4.
The Trojans are second in the Big Ten with 154.5 total blocks and are second in the conference with 2.81 blocks per set. Much of that success at the net can be attributed to Tvrdy’s 1.29 and Ford’s 1.26 blocks per set, ranking seventh and tenth in the Big Ten, respectively.
However, the team’s mark of 12.62 digs per set ranks in the bottom half of the conference. Libero Taylor Deckert’s 2.77 digs per set is 18th in the Big Ten, and defensive specialist Gala Trubint’s 1.85 digs per set is 61st.
USC’s best win of the season arguably came Sept. 7 when it swept then-No. 13 Creighton – which was again ranked No. 13 in the AVCA’s Oct. 6 poll – at the Galen Center. But USC has since lost three straight matches to ranked opponents, getting swept by then-No. 19 BYU and then-No. 13 Purdue, as well as losing in five to then-No. 15 Penn State.
A win over the Trojans would move the Bruins to 3-5 against ranked opponents this season – and give them a solid chance at returning to the top 25 ahead of Monday’s poll.
Adding to the crosstown rivalry, there may be added pressure for UCLA to defend its home turf – where it’s 0-2 this season – as USC has won three straight at Pauley Pavilion.
Comments are closed.