No. 1 Women's Volleyball Contains 15th-Ranked Arizona In A 3-0 Win
Trojans end three-match losing streak against the Wildcats in Tucson.
Sept. 21, 2002
Box Score
TUCSON, Ariz. - The No. 1-ranked USC women's volleyball team contained numerous Arizona rallies to defeat the 15th-ranked Wildcats 3-0 (30-25, 30-23, 31-29) on Saturday (Sept. 21) in front of 2,624 in Tucson. The win was the first for the Women of Troy at Arizona's McKale Center since 1999 and avenged the Trojans 2001 season-ending loss to the Wildcats.
USC improves to 8-0 overall this season and 2-0 in conference play, while the UA drops to 6-4 overall and even in the Pac-10 at 1-1.
Katie Olsovsky shined as the junior middle blocker hit .733 in the match with 11 kills off of 15 attacks and no errors. Five Trojans scored in double figures, with Olsovsky leading with 12.5 points, Emily Adams adding 12.0, April Ross and Lauren Killian contributing 11.0 points apiece and Keao Burdine posting 10.5.
Neither team posted staggering numbers in the match overall, as both schools combined for 47 hitting errors and 17 service miscues. The Women of Troy out-hit the Wildcats .242 to .143 in the sweep, tallying 52 kills to Arizona's 39.
USC took a 10-4 lead in game one with six straight points, thanks in part to three consecutive kills by Killian. Trailing 16-11, Arizona went on its first of many scoring streaks and scored six straight to take a 17-16 lead. The two teams then traded points back and forth to a 22-22 tie before the Women of Troy went on a 7-1 run to reach game point. Arizona managed to close within four at 29-25 on a service error and a kill, but Adams, an Arizona native, ended the game with a kill to give the Women of Troy a 1-0 lead in the match.
Early in game two, USC and Arizona see-sawed back and forth, leading to a 14-14 tie, however, the Women of Troy, aided by three Arizona attack errors and two ball handling errors, went on a seven point scoring run to jump out to a 21-14 lead. The Wildcats battled back yet again to pull within five at 25-20, but then traded USC point-for-point, which allowed the Women of Troy to enter the break up 2-0 with a 30-23 win.
Game three remained close throughout, resulting in 15 tie scores and a lead no larger than four points for either team. Attack errors proved to be the biggest factor in the game, with the Wildcats accounting for 12 and USC for 10.
With the score tied at 28-28, Arizona had a chance to push the match into a fourth game thanks to a USC attack error, but Ross was not about to let that happen and evened the match at 29-29 with her 11th kill of the night. Following another Wildcat error to reach game point, 30-29, Adams appropriately sealed the USC win with a solo block, 31-29.
The Trojans return home to face Washington State and Washington in this week's Pac-10 match-ups. USC hosts the Cougars on Friday, Sept. 27, at 7 p.m. in a Fox Sports Net televised match to be aired on a tape-delay basis. Saturday, Sept. 28, the Women of Troy face the Huskies at 7:30 p.m. Both matches will be played at the Lyon Center.
Shop at the USC Trojan FANStore!
|
