2 0 1 7 U S C W OMEN ’ S V OLLEYBALL Six-Time National Champions • 8 Conference Championships • 34 NCAA Tournament Appearances 73 AVCA All-America Selections • 94 All-Conference Team Selections For release: Sept. 6, 2017 University of Southern California Sports Information • 3501 Watt Way • HER 103 • Los Angeles, Calif. • (213) 740-8480 • Fax: (213) 740-7584 Asst. Director (Women’s Volleyball): Jeremy Wu • Office:(213) 740-3807 • Cell: (213) 379-3977 • E-mail: [email protected] USC Ready to Bring Thunder to Thunderdome Classic SCHEDULE AND RESULTS MATCH #7 4-2 Overall • 0-0 Pac-12 • AVCA: No. 19 No. 19 USC (4-2) vs. Arkansas (6-1) 2-0 Home • 2-0 Away • 0-2 Neutral The Thunderdome • Santa Barbara, Calif. Friday, Sept. 8 • 12:30 p.m. PT AUGUST Series Record: USC leads, 1-0 (1.000) 25 at Loyola Marymount % W 3-1 Last Meeting: W, 3-0 (Sept. 2, 2000 • Austin, Texas) No. 16 Michigan % (P12LA) W 3-1 Current Streak: Won 1 • Last 10 Meetings: 1-0 26 Albany % (P12+) W 3-1 Video Stream: BigWest.tv Opponent Website: ArkansasRazorbacks.com SEPTEMBER MATCH #8 1 vs. Northern Iowa $ L 3-1 No. 19 USC (4-2) at UC Santa Barbara (0-6) 2 at No. 7 Creighton $ (FSGo) W 3-0 The Thunderdome • Santa Barbara, Calif. vs. No. 13 Kentucky $ L 3-1 Friday, Sept. 8 • 7 p.m. PT 8 vs. Arkansas & 12:30 p.m. Series Record: USC leads, 28-9 (.757) at UC Santa Barbara & 7 p.m. Last Meeting: W, 3-1 (Sept. 14, 2013 • San Diego, Calif.) 9 vs. Yale & 4 p.m. Current Streak: Won 5 • Last 10 Meetings: 6-4 14 at Maryland # 7 p.m. ET Video Stream: BigWest.tv 15 vs. Oklahoma # 4 p.m. ET Opponent Website: UCSBGauchos.com 20 at UCLA * (ESPNU) 8 p.m. 24 Oregon State * (P12LA/O) 1 p.m. MATCH #9 30 Washington State * (P12+) 1 p.m. No. 19 USC (4-2) vs. Yale (3-0) The Thunderdome • Santa Barbara, Calif. OCTOBER Saturday, Sept. 9 • 4 p.m. PT 1 Washington * (P12W) 1 p.m. Series Record: USC leads, 1-0 (1.000) 6 at Arizona * (P12LA/A) 6 p.m. Last Meeting: W, 3-0 (Dec. 2, 2011 • Galen Center) 7 at Arizona State * 6 p.m. Current Streak: Won 1 • Last 10 Meetings: 1-0 13 California * (P12+) 7 p.m. Video Stream: BigWest.tv 15 Stanford * (P12LA) 3 p.m. Opponent Website: YaleBulldogs.com 20 at Colorado * (P12LA/M) 7 p.m. 22 at Utah * (P12M) 12 p.m. FIRST SERVE 27 at Washington * (P12LA/W) 6 p.m. • USC will meet Arkansas and Yale each for only the second time in program 29 at Washington State * (P12W) 1 p.m. history. The Trojans played the Razorbacks in a preseason tournament in 2000 and faced the Bulldogs to open the 2011 NCAA tournament. NOVEMBER • Six of USC’s nine set losses this season have been by just two points. 3 Arizona State * (P12+) 7 p.m. • OH Khalia Lanier has been named to the all-tournament team for each of 5 Arizona * (P12N/LA/A) 11 a.m. USC’s first two pre-conference tournaments. 9 Utah * (P12LA/M) 6 p.m. • USC’s roster features eight newcomers, including four transfers. In total, the 11 Colorado * (P12+) 1 p.m. Trojan roster has eight players who have played at other colleges. 15 at Stanford * (P12N/LA/BA) TBD • Former Trojan middle blocker Elise Ruddins’ younger sister Lindsey is an out- 17 at California * 6 p.m. side hitter for the Gauchos. 22 at Oregon * (P12LA/O) 2 p.m. 25 UCLA * (P12LA) [Senior Day] TBD LOS ANGELES – The 19th-ranked USC women’s volleyball team (4-2) seeks to get back on the winning track with three matches this weekend at the UCSB * Pac-12 Conference match • All times PST unless noted Thunderdome Classic (Sept. 8-9) in Santa Barbara, Calif. The Women of Troy will % USC/LMU Tournament • Galen Center/Gersten Pavilion face Arkansas (6-1) and tourney-host UC Santa Barbara (0-6) in a doubleheader $ Bluejay Invitational • D.J. Sokol Arena (Omaha, Neb.) day at 12:30 p.m. PT and 7 p.m. on Friday (Sept. 8) at the Thunderdome. The & Thunderdome Classic • Thunderdome (Santa Barbara, Calif.) Trojans conclude the tournament with a 4 p.m. PT matchup against Yale (3-0) on # Maryland Challenge • Xfinity Pavilion (College Park, Md.) Saturday (Sept. 9). All matches will be streamed live on BigWest.tv. After starting the season 3-0 in the USC/LMU tournament, the Trojans went 1-2 at the Bluejay Invitational in Omaha, Neb., last week. USC has previously faced Arkansas (2000) and Yale (2011) once each and swept both teams. The Trojans have a much longer history with UCSB and lead the all-time series, 28-9, but have not played the Gauchos since taking a 3-1 win in 2013. The Trojans are stacked at the pins and rely heavily on OHs Khalia Lanier (4.59 kps) and Alyse Ford (2.65 kps) and OPPs Brittany Abercrombie (2.70 kps) and Niki Withers (2.65 kps) to drive the @USCWomensVolley attack. Setters Reni Meyer-Whalley (6.22 aps) and Cindy Marina (5.61 aps) run USC’s 6-2 system in which libero Victoria Garrick puts up 4.05 digs per set. 2017 USC WOMEN OF TROY ## NAME POS HT YR EXP HOMETOWN (PREVIOUS SCHOOL) 1 Alyse Ford OH 5-10 Jr. 2V Laguna Beach, Calif. (Mater Dei HS) 2 Madison Murtagh MB 6-1 Jr. 1V San Francisco, Calif. (Sacred Heart Preparatory/San Francisco) 3 Niki Withers OPP 6-0 Sr. 2V Long Beach, Calif. (Long Beach Poly HS/CSU Fullerton) 4 Victoria Garrick L 5-10 Jr. 2V Atherton, Calif. (Sacred Heart Preparatory) 5 Jordan Dunn MB 6-4 Sr. 2V Corona, Calif. (Corona HS) 6 Brittany Abercrombie OPP 6-2 Sr. 3V Carlsbad, Calif. (La Costa Canyon HS) 7 Brooke Botkin OPP 6-1 Fr. HS Pearland, Texas (Pearland HS) 9 Cindy Marina S 5-11 So. TR Temecula, Calif. (Great Oak HS/Duke) 10 Zoe Gries DS 5-4 Fr. HS Tampa, Fla. (Berkeley Preparatory School) 11 Alexa Gallegos S 5-11 Fr. HS Los Alamitos, Calif. (Saint Joseph HS) 12 Brittany Welsh MB 6-4 Jr. TR Newport Beach, Calif. (Mater Dei HS/Louisiana State) 13 Raegan LeGrand DS 5-10 So. 1V Papillion, Neb. (Papillion-LaVista South HS) 14 Reni Meyer-Whalley S 5-5 Sr. 1V Los Angeles, Calif. (Marymount HS/Washington) 15 Nikki Leonard DS 5-8 Sr. 1V Bakersfield, Calif. (Liberty HS/Gonzaga) 16 Khalia Lanier OH 6-2 So. 1V Scottsdale, Ariz. (Xavier College Preparatory School) 17 Daley Krage OPP 6-4 So. 1V Saint Charles, Ill. (Saint Charles North HS) 20 Jenna Adams DS 5-10 So. TR San Mateo, Calif. (Saint Francis HS/Ohio State) 21 Danielle Geiger MB 6-0 Sr. TR Mission Viejo, Calif. (Santa Margarita HS/UC Irvine) 22 Brennan Wilhite MB 6-3 Fr. HS Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (Cathedral Catholic HS) COACHES AND STAFF Head Coach Mick Haley, 17th year (Ball State ‘65) Associate Head Coach Jason Kennedy, 3rd year (Santa Clara ‘07) Assistant Coach Kyle Weindel, 3rd year (Ball State ‘03) Volunteer Assistant Coach Drew Burdette, 1st year (Pfeiffer ‘11) Director of Operations Alexis Olgard Technical Coordinator Jeffrey Liu Strength & Conditioning Coach Steve Novencido Athletic Trainer Katie Johnson Graduate Managers Justin Chang, Chris Orenic Student Managers Mary Labanowski, Michelle Sacks, Malia Sato, Natalie Swegler AVCA COACHES TOP 25 POLL USC POLL PROGRESSION PRONUNCIATION GUIDE RK TEAM PTS REC. PREV. Brooke Botkin BOUGHT-kin 1 Minnesota (29) 1529 5-0 2 Alyse Ford ah-LEESE 2 Florida (21) 1525 4-0 3 Alexa Gallegos guy-YAY-gohs 3 Penn State (12) 1484 5-0 5 Danielle Geiger GUY-gerr REC. AVCA RPI 4 Stanford (1) 1366 4-1 1 Zoe Gries GREECE (like the country) 5 Texas (1) 1362 4-1 4 Preseason 0-0 RV -- Daley Krage CRAW-gee (like “froggy”) 6 Wisconsin 1319 5-0 6 Aug 28 3-0 #18 -- Khalia Lanier kah-LEE-uh len-EER 7 Kansas 1112 6-0 9 Sept 4 4-2 #19 -- Raegan LeGrand RAY-gehn lah-GRAND 8 Washington 1106 5-1 8 Cindy Marina mah-REE-nah 9 Creighton 1099 5-1 7 Sept 11 -- -- -- Madison Murtagh MERR-taw 10 BYU 1056 6-0 10 Sept 18 -- -- -- Brennan Wilhite WILL-height 11 UCLA 1010 5-0 11 Sept 25 -- -- -- 12 Nebraska 870 3-2 12 Oct 2 -- -- -- 13 Kentucky 837 5-1 13 Kyle Weindel wine-DELL 14 Oregon 774 4-1 14 Oct 9 -- -- -- 15 San Diego 597 4-2 17 Oct 16 -- -- -- 16 Michigan 557 5-1 19 Oct 23 -- -- -- PAC-12 PRESEASON COACHES POLL 17 Purdue 519 6-0 21 Oct 30 -- -- -- 18 Utah 481 5-1 22 TEAM POINTS 19 USC 450 4-2 18 Nov 6 -- -- -- 1 Washington (8) 118 20 Florida State 382 5-1 15 Nov 13 -- -- -- 2 Stanford (3) 113 3 Oregon 93 21 Michigan State 302 5-1 23 Nov 20 -- -- -- 22 Iowa State 295 5-0 25 4 Utah (1) 88 Nov 27 -- -- -- 23 Wichita State 164 6-0 NR 5 UCLA 83 24 Ohio State 144 4-2 20 Dec 18 -- -- -- 6 USC 71 25 Colorado State 135 5-1 NR 7 Washington State 66 USC AVCA POLL SUPERLATIVES 8 Arizona 51 Others receiving votes: North Carolina 111; Northern 9 Colorado 38 Iowa 60; Illinois 44; Washington State 24; Western 483 weeks ranked in the poll’s top 25 Kentucky 11; Missouri State 10; Miami (FL) 9; Lip- 10 Oregon State 33 scomb 8; Cal Poly 6; Baylor 4 312 weeks ranked in the top 10 11 California 23 as of Sept.