Categoria: Campionati Esteri

LOS ANGELES – The 22nd-ranked USC women’s volleyball team (3-0) was crowned champion of the 2015 Women of Troy Baden Invitational on Saturday, Aug. 29, following a 3-0 sweep (25-23, 25-22, 25-22) of No. 11 BYU (2-1) at Galen Center. Senior outside hitter Samantha Bricio was chosen as the tournament’s Most Valuable Player and was joined on the all-tournament team by senior middle blocker Alicia Ogoms and sophomore opposite hitter Brittany Abercrombie.

Bricio was nearly unstoppable as she logged her second double-double of the season (43rd of her career). She finished with 25 kills (7e, 45att) and hit .400 to go with 11 digs, three blocks, and a service ace. Abercrombie put up 11 kills (3e, 26att) with a .308 hitting percentage and had two blocks. Ogoms led the Trojans with seven blocks (one solo) and added a pair of kills and four digs.

The Trojans hit .190 (44k, 20e, 126att) as freshman setter Baylee Johnson put up 22 assists and junior setter Alice Pizzasegola had 14. Johnson added nine digs while Pizzasegola tallied a pair of aces and three digs. Junior libero Taylor Whittingham led the team with 22 digs and freshman defender Victoria Garrick finished with 11 and a pair of aces.

For the Cougars, Alexa Gray recorded 12 kills (7e, 51att) but hit .098. Gray also had three reception errors and a pair of service errors. Cosy Burnett had nine kills (5e, 22att, .182) and Amy Boswell picked up nine kills (1e, 21att, .381) to go with a match-high eight blocks (two solo). Ciara Parker led all players with 23 digs while setter Camry Willardson put up a double-double with 28 assists and 10 digs.

The Trojans got off to an auspicious start with a pair of back-to-back blocks from Bricio and Ogoms, but the Cougars quickly seized control of the first set and climbed out to a seven-point lead at 15-8 thanks to a 10-3 run. The Women of Troy weren’t done as a pair of Pizzasegola aces brought USC within two points at 19-17. The Trojans completed a 12-5 run to tie the score at 20-all on an ace by Garrick. BYU had trouble regaining its footing after that as the Trojans closed out with a block from Ogoms to seal a 25-23 first-set victory.

The teams went blow for blow to start the second set with six ties before USC broke away with four straight kills including three from Bricio to lead, 12-8. BYU was able to stay close enough to make a short run and caught the Trojans to tie the score for a seventh time at 18-all. Two ties later, freshman outside hitter Alyse Ford sparked a 3-0 run with her crosscourt kill. Bricio and Abercrombie followed suit before Pizzasegola put up a pipe set for Bricio who flew in and crushed the final ball to the floor to complete a 25-22 USC win.

USC wasted little time exerting its control of set three and went ahead by three on a kill from Ford at 6-3. Abercrombie had back-to-back terminators to put the Trojans up, 14-10, before Gray’s attack went long to give USC a five-point lead. No lead was large enough as the Cougars chipped away and caught up at 17-all. Again, the Trojans ran away to build a four-point lead, 21-17, when Ogoms went quick for a kill. BYU gave chase one last time and tied the score at 22s before Bricio calmed things down with her off-speed kill to put USC up for good. Ogoms cut down an attack from Boswell to set the Trojans up with match point and then Gray went long once more to seal a 25-22 USC win and the 3-0 sweep.

BYU finished the tournament with a 2-1 mark for second place. No. 7 North Carolina was 1-2 in third place and Chicago State was 0-3 for fourth place. Up next, the Women of Troy head to Cedar Falls, Iowa, for the UNI Tournament hosted by Northern Iowa. USC opens the tourney against Creighton at 4:30 p.m. CT on Friday, Sept. 4, and will also face UNI and Kentucky at the McLeod Center.

To purchase season or single-game tickets for Trojan volleyball at the Galen Center, visit GetTrojanTix.com or call (213) 740-GOSC. For more information on the USC women’s volleyball team and a complete schedule, please visit USCTrojans.com and follow @USCWomensVolley on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Periscope.

2015 Women of Troy Baden Invitational All-Tournament Team

Samantha Bricio, SR, USC (MVP)

Alicia Ogoms, SR, USC

Brittany Abercrombie, SO, USC

Alexa Gray, SR, BYU

Whitney Young Howard, JR, BYU

Leigh Andrew, SR, UNC

Elli Woinowsky, JR, CSU

Press Office

LOS ANGELES – The No. 22-ranked USC women’s volleyball team (1-0) locked in its first upset victory of the season as the Trojans defeated No. 7 North Carolina (0-1) in four sets (25-20, 23-25, 25-18, 25-11) in the second match of the Women of Troy Baden Invitational at Galen Center on Friday, Aug. 28.

The Trojans were led by senior outside hitter Samantha Bricio who had 24 kills (10e, 57att, .246) and 27.5 points to lead all scorers. Bricio also had 18 digs to log her 42nd-career double-double and finished with a service ace and five blocks. Sophomore opposite Brittany Abercrombie matched her career mark with 13 kills (2e, 30att, .367) and also had five blocks. Senior middle blocker Alicia Ogoms finished with 10 kills (1e, 15att) as she hit .600 and posted seven blocks (one solo) and freshman outside hitter Alyse Ford tallied 10 kills (4e, 25att, .240).

 Junior middle blocker Elise Ruddins had five kills (1e, 12att, .333) and put up seven blocks (one solo) for nine points. Defensively, junior libero Taylor Whittingham had 13 digs and two service aces while freshman defender Victoria Garrick had 14 digs in her first collegiate match. The Women of Troy hit .268 in the match and finished with 64 kills (22e, 157att) thanks to the setting of junior Alice Pizzasegola (27 assists) and freshman Baylee Johnson (30 assists). Johnson also had 11 digs to post her first-career double-double.

 For the Tar Heels, Leigh Andrew and Hayley McCorkle each had 10 kills. Jordyn Schnabl had 22 assists and 11 digs while libero Heather Gearhart had 13 digs but gave up four aces.

 The Trojans set the tone quickly as they rolled out to a five-point lead in the first set, 10-5, on a pipe-set kill from Bricio. The Heels climbed to within one point, but Bricio picked up two more kills to push USC ahead, 16-12, before Abercrombie and Ruddins teamed up for a big block to get the Trojans a 23-18 lead. USC finished off the set with a 25-20 win and looked like they were in position to do the same in the second as they got out to a 4-1 lead. UNC flipped the tables on the Trojans though, as its 5-1 run gave the Heels a 15-11 lead. The teams went back and forth and were tied for the ninth time at 18-all before USC pulled away for a 21-19 lead on a crosscourt shot from Abercrombie. It wasn’t enough as North Carolina fought back to take the second set, 25-23.

 There would be no let-up in the third set as USC claimed a three-point lead on three straight kills by Ogoms, Bricio, and Abercrombie, 7-4. Bricio went at it on her own for three straight points and a 14-9 lead before the Trojan block showed up again and got USC an 18-12 lead on back-to-back blocks by Ogoms. UNC closed within five just once, but the Trojans maintained their distance and topped the Heels, 25-18, to go ahead, 2-1, in the match.

 Despite its quick 2-0 lead in the fourth set, North Carolina couldn’t come up with enough offense to stay with the Trojans and finished with a negative .100 hitting percentage (6k, 9e, 30att). USC went up by five, 10-5, on a crosscourt shot from Abercrombie and continued to climb for an 11-point lead when Ford drove down the line for a kill and made the score 17-6. There was little fight left in the Tar Heels, who went down by 12 on Bricio’s service ace, 22-10, before a couple of errors and another block for Ruddins put the Trojans at match point, 24-11. Ford completed the upset when she tooled the block for the 25-11 win.

 The Women of Troy are back in action for two matches tomorrow (Aug. 29). The Trojans face Chicago State (0-1) at 10 a.m., and wrap the tournament with a match against No. 11 BYU (1-0) at 8 p.m., on the Pac-12 Networks. At 12:30 p.m., BYU and North Carolina face off before UNC and Chicago State play at 5 p.m.

 To purchase season or single-game tickets, visit GetTrojanTix.com or call (213) 740-GOSC. For more information on the USC women’s volleyball team and a complete schedule, please visit USCTrojans.com and follow @USCWomensVolley on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Periscope.

MATCH NOTES

·       The Trojans improved to 3-1 all-time against North Carolina (wins in 1999 and 2009) and avenged its only loss to the Tar Heels, which came in the second round of last year’s NCAA tournament.

·       USC wins its fifth straight season opener and improved to 13-2 in openers under head coach Mick Haley. The program improves to 34-6 in all-time season openers.

·       Senior OH Samantha Bricio finished with 24 kills and 18 digs for her first double-double of the season and the 42nd of her career. She had 19 double-doubles in 2014.

·       Bricio’s 24 kills put her at 1,451 career kills, which is 10 shy of Keao Burdine’s (1,461 from 2001-04) 10th-place record in the Trojan record books.

·       Freshmen Baylee Johnson (setter) and Victoria Garrick (defensive specialist) each got their first career starts.

·       Johnson finished with 30 assists and 11 digs for her first-career double-double.

·       Sophomore OPP Brittany Abercrombie matched her career high of 13 kills and had a career-high 30 attacks.

 Press Office