USC women’s volleyball (10-2, 1-1) brought out the brooms against Ohio State (3-7, 0-2) as they rounded out their conference-opening weekend. After falling to Penn State the night before, the Trojans showed out offensively to sweep the Buckeyes and take the match in three sets.
“We just played our game,” Trojans’ head coach Brad Keller said. “Ohio State is such a different team than Penn State, so it’s just more about us and our side of the sport at this point in time.”
Tonight however, the Trojans had some notable lineup changes heading into the game. Senior libero Gala Trubint started in place of freshman libero Taylor Deckert, who was sidelined due to sickness. Senior outside hitter Dani Thomas-Nathan also played a larger role earning her first start of the season.
Redshirt sophomore outside hitter London Wijay led the charge for the Trojans early, scoring two kills for the first few points of the set. Redshirt junior outsider hitter Adonia Faumina and senior middle blocker Rylie McGinest were impactful as well, garnering kills to help the Trojans side out quickly. While USC held the lead throughout the beginning of the first set, a service error by Nathan tied the match (10-10).
The Trojans continued to maintain their lead in the first, with gritty defense through long rallies and converting dug balls into points. With a kill and a net violation (19-19, 19-20) on USC, the Buckeyes were able to crawl back and grab the lead from the Trojans. Freshman opposite hitter Abigail Mullen led a 3-0 scoring run, closing out the first set with two back-to-back aces (24-23, 25-23).
Set two opened with another Trojan kill by redshirt sophomore middle blocker Leah Ford. Trubint continued to lay out defensively, picking up balls off Ohio State’s block to help the Trojans convert into kills. The team also found success in tipping over the Buckeye block.
McGinest secured the second set for USC following her fourth kill of the match. Both set scores ended close for both teams (25-23, 25-22), but the Trojans displayed cleaner offensive capabilities and were able to put away balls faster than the night before against the Nittany Lions.
In her previous match Wijay struggled to make a mark offensively, earning just 10 kills with five errors across the entire five-set thriller. Following set two, Wijay’s momentum grew, notching 14 kills through tonight’s first two sets.
“Just carrying that energy that we had from Penn State, and just kind of remembering how it felt to be in that fifth set and kind of having that same intensity,” Wijay said, in regards to her offensive efficiency. “I kind of just created my own energy and made sure I didn’t start slow.”
After being up two sets, the Trojans entered their final set with confidence.. The team was able to amplify their blocking presence, with freshman setter Reese Messer and sophomore middle blocker Mia Tvrdy earning two blocks (4-1, 6-1). A 6-0 run ultimately forced a Buckeye timeout, and the Trojans never let the Buckeyes back in.
A series of unforced errors from the Buckeyes including a double contact call, propelled the Trojans to a dominant lead (16-8). Mullen continued to shine from the service line, notching her fourth ace of the match (18-9). While the Buckeyes were able to slowly comeback from being down, a block by Mullen and McGinest followed by a kill from Faumuina secured the sweep.
“This group has shown over and over and over again that they’ve been a resilient and steady team,” Keller said. “We don’t bleed a lot of points, which is what I think has been a big improvement from last year to this year.”
The Trojans will continue their next round of Big Ten play against the Indiana Hoosiers at Galen Center at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 3.