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No. 5 USC Finishes Regular Season With 3-0 Sweep At Arizona State
Nov. 24, 2007 TEMPE, Ariz. - Senior outside hitter Diane Copenhagen (Saratoga/St. Francis HS) had a team-high 17 kills to go with 10 digs Saturday as the No. 5 USC Trojans swept the host Arizona State Sun Devils, 3-0 (30-26, 30-23, 30-18), in a Pac-10 match at the Wells Fargo Arena. USC finishes the regular season with a 25-4 record and a third-place finish in the Pac-10 Conference with a 14-4 mark. Arizona State ends the season with a 15-16 overall mark, 7-11 in conference. USC head coach Mick Haley has now guided his teams (Texas and USC) to at least 25 victories in a season a total of 17 times since 1982. As a program, USC has registered 25 wins in six of the last eight seasons. Senior All-American Asia Kaczor (Wroclaw, Poland/College of Southern Idaho) added 14 kills for the Trojans while junior Jessica Gysin (Los Gatos/St. Francis HS) had seven kills without an error. Sophomore setter Taylor Carico (Manhattan Beach/Mira Costa HS) had four kills, 46 assists and eight digs. Tonight's performance by Copenhagen was the highest number of kills since her 13-kill performance on Sept. 21 against Arizona. She had played seven of her previous eight matches only in the back row and missed seven straight matches with an abdominal injury. Copenhagen also recorded her 83rd career solo block to move into a tie for 10th place on USC's single-season list with Lonise Norfleet (1987-90). It was a tight start in game one as neither team was able to break away with a lead larger than three points. Trayser's kill gave ASU the 21-19 lead, forcing USC to call the timeout. Copenhagen started a 6-2 run for the Trojans out of the break as USC led, 25-23. After three straight sideouts, ASU's sixth service error of the game was followed by a solo block from Bethany Johansen for a 28-25 score in favor of the Trojans. Copenhagen put USC ahead in the match, capping the game with her fifth kill of the game.
Game two started in similar fashion with Arizona State working its way to a 16-14 advantage. Gysin put back-to-back kills to tie it at 17-17 with Kaczor and Copenhagen later garnering some points with USC leading, 21-19. After USC's service error, the Trojans reeled off five straight points to take command of the game as Gysin later gave them a 2-0 lead in the match. The Trojans started game three with a 5-0 run and pulled away midway with an 11-3 run against the Sun Devils. USC awaits the announcement of the 2007 NCAA Tournament bracket tomorrow night at 5 p.m. Pacific on ESPNU. USC 30-30-30 ASU 26-23-18 |
