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No. 12 USC Beats Oregon State In Five Sets
Nov. 1, 2008 LOS ANGELES -- Freshman outside hitter Alex Jupiter (Hermosa Beach/Redondo Union HS) had 20 kills while junior outside hitter Jessica Gysin (Los Gatos/St. Francis HS) had 17 kills and 14 digs as the No. 12 USC Women of Troy defeated the Oregon State Beavers, 3-2 (23-25, 25-20, 20-25, 25-19, 16-14). USC closed out its four-match homestand with a 3-1 record with three consecutive wins all coming in five sets. With tonight's win, head coach Mick Haley registered his 200th win at USC against only 39 losses. Lauren Williams added 15 kills and seven blocks in a .444 night (15-3-27) for USC (13-7, 6-5) while Kimmee Roleder also had a double-double with 11 kills, 10 digs and four blocks. Taylor Carico recorded 52 assists with three kills, 11 digs and five blocks. Rachel Rourke had 34 kills for Oregon State (14-10, 3-8) and nine digs while Bree Knitter added 17 kills and seven digs. Lexie Rathgeber had 12 kills while Camilla Ah-Hoy posted 60 assists with three kills, 12 digs and two blocks for the Beavers. OSU dominated USC early in set one, rolling to a 15-7 lead. The Trojans responded with a 15-7 run to tie it at 22-22, but Rourke and Knitter used kills to take the early lead in the match. It was closer in the second set as OSU would claw its way back to a 20-20 tie, but the Trojans took advantage of two Beaver errors as five straight points for USC tied the match. The Beavers got to 20 first in the third set as Rourke fired two more kills and two USC errors handed a 2-1 match lead to the visiting team. Jupiter went back-to-back in the fourth set to help tie it at 16-16 after USC had a three-point deficit. Six straight points by USC finished a 9-1 run late in the set to send the match into the fifth set.
The Women of Troy jumped out to a 5-2 lead before a 4-1 run by OSU was capped by a Rathgeber/Lauren Rinderknecht blocked for the 6-6 score. Carico snuck a kill that started a streak of three straight for USC and a 9-6 lead. The Beavers would not relent and after being down 13-10, Rourke snapped a kill to tie it at 13-13. Rourke's attempt into the net gave USC match point, but she made up for it with the set-tying kill. Williams put one down in the middle and an OSU attempt went long to cement the victory for the Trojans. USC travels to Washington next Friday (Nov. 7) for a 7 p.m. match and Washington State on Sunday (Nov. 9) for a 1 p.m. match. OSU 25-20-25-19-14 USC 23-25-20-25-16 |
