|
No. 11 USC Sweeps Washington State, 3-0
Oct. 10, 2008 LOS ANGELES -- Sophomore middle blocker Zoe Garrett (Laguna Beach/Laguna Beach HS) tied a career high with 13 kills and hit .476 in the match (13-3-21) as the No. 11 USC Women of Troy swept the Washington State Cougars, 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-19), in a Pac-10 Conference match at the Galen Center. Sophomore outside hitter Kimmee Roleder (Pasadena/Pasadena HS) hit .381 for USC (9-4, 2-2) with nine kills and a season-high 12 digs while freshman outside hitter Alex Jupiter (Hermosa Beach/Redondo Union HS) had 10 kills and seven digs while hitting .320 (10-2-25). Junior All-America setter Taylor Carico (Manhattan Beach/Mira Costa HS) recorded five kills, 40 assists and six digs in the win. Jackie Albright led Washington State (7-9, 0-5) with nine kills and 15 digs while Brittany Tilman and Emily Rooney had seven kills apiece. WSU staked itself to a 5-1 lead at the start of the first set. After a Cougar hitting error, Jupiter recorded a kill to start the momentum for the Trojans as the host team eventually tied the score at 8-8. Tilman started four straight for the Cougars for the 12-8 advantage. Garrett's kill put USC back in the lead with an 8-3 run to lead, 16-15. Jupiter later put down back-to-back kills as the Women of Troy pulled away for the 22-18 margin. Carico added a "310" kill and Gysin put the finishing touch to set one for the Trojans. At 5-5 in the second set, the Cougars broke away with three straight. USC turned in three straight of its own and took the lead at 13-12. WSU was able to take its own lead of two points as Albright's kill on the overpass put the Cougars ahead, 16-14. Jupiter's kill ignited a 4-1 run as USC retook the lead, 18-17. Rooney hit the daily double before Albright's service ace put the Cougars ahead at 20-18. Both teams traded points for a 22-20 score, but it was a block by Lauren Williams and Roleder that sparked five straight points as the Women of Troy rallied to take the 2-0 lead in the match.
Albright gave Washington State the 6-3 lead in the third set, but two kills from Jupiter and Garrett tied it at 7-7. Both teams battled to a 13-13 tie, but it was the Trojans who reeled off nine straight points for a 22-14 advantage to put the match away. USC hosts No. 10 Washington at 6 p.m. tomorrow in a Pac-10 match at the Galen Center. The match will be broadcast live on usctrojans.com, courtesy of TrojanTV All-Access. Notes: Zoe Garrett also had 13 kills last season against St. John's (Aug. 25, 2007)... Kimmee Roleder's 12 digs were two shy of her career-high 14 digs last season against Mercer (9/1/07)... Taylor Carico became just the fourth Trojan in school history to record 3,500 career assists...Carico is fourth all-time behind Janice Mounts (4,258), Toni Anderson (3,825) and Christine Brigman (3,691)...Head coach Mick Haley is now four wins away from his 200th win at USC... Alex Jupiter registered double digit kills for the 10th time in 13 matches this season...with tonight's crowd of 1,648, USC has averaged 1,978 fans in six matches at the Galen Center this season. WSU 20-22-19 USC 25-25-25 |
