The No. 17 USC women’s volleyball team took on Rutgers and defeated them with ease in a 3-0 sweep on Friday night at the Galen Center. The victory extended the Trojans’ winning streak to nine games.
From the jump, USC was dominant, never trailing in the first set. Redshirt sophomore Leah Ford scored the first point of the night to get the crowd going. Then, redshirt sophomore outside hitter London Wijay got her first kill of the match to make the early lead 6-1, and it was the start of her dominance. She was lights out on the hardwood, leading USC with 11 kills on a .370 hitting percentage, and had three blocks. Wijay attributed her stellar performance to doing extra work this week with freshman setter Reese Messer.
“Me and Reese actually went in to get extra reps this week,” Wijay said. “I think that’s what helped me is just making sure I’m confident in every shot.”
Wijay’s variety in her attack led to her dominance. She balanced a few soft touch kills that she lightly tapped over the net with aggressive kills to help USC build a 14-6 lead in the first set. Wijay closed out the first set on an assist from senior libero/defensive specialist Gala Trubint.
Rutgers struggled to keep the ball in play during the first set, committing four service errors and eight assist errors with only hitting just .027.
Freshman opposite hitter Abigail Mullen started the second set with a kill, she would end the game with five of those. Messer kept delivering assists on nice touches, including a backwards flick to Mullen a few plays later. USC then jumped out to a 6-2 lead, but Rutgers closed the gap to 11-9.
Every time Rutgers looked like it was inching closer, USC fought back. Wijay caught the defense off guard on a kill to make the score 12-9, and then a few plays later, senior libero/defensive specialist Megan Verbiest served her third ace of the night.
The Scarlet Knights entered the matchup leading the Big Ten in aces with 173, but it was USC who dominated on the service line. Including Verbiest’s three, the Trojans had eight aces, which is above the season average of about 4.5 per game. On the other hand, Rutgers committed seven service errors and had a hit percentage of only .020.
Messer got a few tip kills that had her teammates going crazy on the baseline, showing the vibes on USC are immaculate, which according to Messer is leading to the team’s success.
“We play a lot better when we’re loose and free,” Messer said. “Those little jokes here and there keep everyone calm and know that we can do this.”
The looseness on the court showed on set-point when Messer set a beautiful ball for Wijay, which she placed perfectly just in bounds to secure the 25-17 set victory.
The Trojans were outstanding in the third set. Wijay scored twice in the first five points and then Mullen served back-to-back aces to give USC a commanding 7-1 lead. Ford scored on an incredible cross-court hammer that had the crowd jumping and Trubint had incredible digs that kept rallies alive that eventually gave USC an 18-5 lead in the set.
It wasn’t just the offense that was outstanding, the blocking was incredible as well. Senior middle blocker Rylie McGinest led the blocking effort with eight, showing why USC leads the Big Ten in blocks per set.
Wijay got her 11th kill of the game to win the last set 25-10, sealing the sweep for the Trojans.
“I just feel like we’re really hungry,” Wijay said, “Who cares about age? We want to win, and that’s all that matters.”
The nine-game winning streak the Trojans are on ties Coach Keller’s record for most wins in a row as head coach of USC. The Trojans will need all this momentum on their side to break the record, as the most formidable challenge of the season, No. 1 Nebraska, is looming.
Keller praised the Cornhuskers, but emphasized that USC won’t shy away from the big moment.
“That team deserves all the credit that they get,” Keller said. “They’ve all been knocked out in the finals or in the Final Four, so they have a resume and a pedigree about them. They’re going to be ready to go, but hopefully we’re going to be ready to go too.”
The biggest game of the season against No. 1 Nebraska will be on Sunday, Nov. 16, at noon at Galen Center.