Oct. 23, 1997

No. 5 USC Women's Volleyball Sweeps No. 10 Washington State

LOS ANGELES - The No. 5 USC women's volleyball team, led by junior outside hitter Jennifer Kessy's season-high tying 25 kills and junior middle blocker Jasmina Marinkovic's triple-double of 21 kills, 12 digs and 10 blocks, defeated No. 10 Washington State, 15-13, 15-9, 15-12, in a Pac-10 Conference match in front of 511 at the North Gym on Thursday night. The second-place Women of Troy improved to 16-2 overall, 8-2 in the Pac-10. The Cougars dropped to 18-4, 6-4. It was USC's sixth consecutive win. In addition to Marinkovic and Kessy (who added 13 digs for her 10th double-double), freshman outside hitter Antoinette Polk had a career-high 14 kills and freshman opposite hitter Kashi Cormier had 10 kills. USC outhit Washington State, .307 to .235, and outblocked the bigger Cougars, 14-9.

The match was close all night. The score was tied at 13-13 in Game 1 before a Kessy kill and a Cougar hitting error gave USC the game. Kessy and Marinkovic had 7 kills apiece in Game 2 as USC turned a 10-7 lead into a 15-9 win. USC jumped out to a 14-7 lead in Game 3 and withstood a 5-point Washington State rally to take the match. Four Cougars hit in double figures, led by Jennifer Stinson's 13 kills. USC next hosts No. 21 Washington on Friday (Oct. 24) at the Lyon Center at 7:30 p.m. The match will be televised live by Fox Sports Net.