USC vs. Stanford Volleyball Recap
The No. 8 USC women’s volleyball team is no longer undefeated at home after losing to No. 1 Stanford Friday at the Galen Center before a crowd of nearly four thousand people.
The Women of Troy started off the match strong, winning the first set 25-18. They appeared to dominate the Cardinal, largely thanks to freshman Falyn Fonoimoana, who contributed seven of her 14 kills, and freshman Alexis Olgard, who had five kills in the first set and a season-high nine kills in the match.
The second set was a much closer battle, having five lead changes and 15 ties. Defensively, the Women of Troy tried their best to go into the intermission up 2-0, but serving and attack errors allowed Stanford to win the set 25-23, tying the match at 1-1.
Coming out in the third set, junior All-American Alex Jupiter came in with a kill, one of the 19 she had on the night. Sophomore Katie Fuller contributed two of her five kills in the set as well. However, Stanford’s offense was just too strong, as senior outside hitter Alix Klineman continued to attack, having 10 of her 27 kills in the set.
It seemed critical mistakes caused the Women of Troy to have to play from behind for most of the third set, as nine of Stanford’s 25 points came from serving and attack errors. Stanford won the third set 25-20.
Once the fourth set was underway, Stanford began the attack early, as sophomore Hayley Spelman had five of her 15 kills, while Klineman contributed another six. There were four lead changes and six ties in the set. Junior Lauren Williams contributed two kills to go along with Fonoimoana’s four kills, but that still wasn’t enough to hold off Stanford, who won the match 25-15.
Although the Women of Troy suffered a 3-1 loss, USC head coach Mick Haley felt his team showed impressive ability against the nation’s top ranked squad.
“If Stanford’s the number one team in the country, then I think we’re on course to be pretty good this year,” he said.
The Women of Troy do not have much time to dwell on the loss, as they face No. 7 California Saturday night at the Galen Center at 7 p.m.
