Dec. 12, 2011

Weekly Release

2011 NCAA Final Four
The Alamodome - San Antonio, Texas

Thursday, December 15 - NCAA National Semifinals
No. 12 seed Florida State (28-6) vs. No. 9 seed UCLA (28-6) - 6 p.m.
No. 7 seed USC (29-4) vs. No. 3 Illinois (31-4) - 8 p.m.

Live Video | Live Audio 

Saturday, December 17 - NCAA National Championship
Florida State/UCLA winner vs. USC/Illinois winner - 7:30 p.m.

All times local to match site
All matches broadcast on ESPN2/ESPN3
Live audio webcast on usctrojans.com

USC Probable Starters
No.	Name		  Yr.	Pos.	Ht.	kps	pct.	dps	bps	pps
1	Alexis Olgard	  So.	MB	6-5	1.76	.410	0.20	0.82	2.26
3	Natalie Hagglund  So.	L	5-9	 ---	---	5.09	---	---
7	Alex Jupiter	  Sr.	OH	6-3	4.38	.267	3.16	0.55	5.33
8	Lauren Williams	  Sr.	MB	6-4	2.64	.382	0.21	0.81	3.09
10	Sara Shaw	  So.	OH	6-2	2.11	.221	2.32	0.30	2.48
12	Kendall Bateman	  Sr.	S	5-11	0.27	.275	11.98 aps
22	Katie Fuller	  Jr.	OH	6-2	2.86	.259	1.69	0.49	3.28

LOS ANGELES -- The USC women's volleyball team (29-4) will face the No. 3 seed Illinois Fighting Illini (31-4) in a national semifinal at the 2011 NCAA Final Four in San Antonio, Texas. The match will take place on Thursday (December 15) at the Alamodome, starting at 8 p.m. (Central time) with the winner to face the No. 9 seed UCLA (28-6)/No. 12 seed Florida State (28-6) winner for the national championship on Saturday (December 17) at 7:30 p.m. USC, ranked No. 1 in the nation with the latest AVCA poll and seeded No. 7 in the NCAA Tournament, advanced to the Final Four after defeating Hawai'i and Pepperdine to win the Honolulu Regional last weekend.

Beth Mowins and Karch Kiraly will call the action live on ESPN2/ESPN3 while Paul Duchesne will do a live audio broadcast on usctrojans.com.

USC has won 12 straight matches and 24 of its last 25 matches dating back to September 16.

USC In The Postseason
USC is making its 34th postseason appearance since the program's inception in 1976 with the Women of Troy winning six national championships (1976, 1977, 1980, 1981, 2002 and 2003). This is USC's 21st consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament. USC is 67-24 (.736) in NCAA tournament play and 111-31 (.782) overall in postseason play.

The Women of Troy are making their seventh NCAA Final Four appearance in the last 12 years. This is the first back-to-back Final Four appearances since three straight appearances from 2002-04.

Honolulu Regional Recap
With what many argued was the best regional semifinal match of this year's tournament between the No. 1 and No. 3 teams in the latest AVCA poll, USC and Hawai'i played a five-set classic in front of a sellout crowd at the Stan Sheriff Center (10,300).

Alex Jupiter posted career highs with 33 kills and 26 digs as the Trojans rallied from a 2-1 deficit to win in five sets. Jupiter had three kills and four errors after the first set, but the National Player of the Year candidate took over the match from there. In the fifth and final set, Jupiter had eight kills and one service ace. USC snapped a four-match post-season losing streak to Hawai'i as the Women of Troy recorded a post-season win for the first time against the Rainbow Wahine since 1981.

The Hawai'i match took its toll on the Women of Troy the following night against No. 15 seed (and No. 18 in the AVCA poll) Pepperdine. With the Waves only needing three sets to sweep Kansas State, USC found itself on the ropes again. Down 2-1 in the match, freshman Hannah Schraer provided the spark for the Women of Troy with six kills and four blocks to finish off the Waves in five sets. Jupiter topped her career high with 29 digs and tied her career high with five service aces. Natalie Hagglund finished with 32 digs, one of her career high.

No. 3 seed Illinois Notes
Illinois is 31-4 on the season and winners of the Gainesville Regional after a four-set wins over Ohio State and Florida. This is Illinois' first NCAA Final Four since 1988. Head coach Kevin Hambly is 81-19 in his third season at Illinois. The Fighting Illini have a 13.75 kills per set and 2.59 blocks per set average while hitting .262 as a team. Senior outside hitter Michelle Bartsch has 513 kills (3.83 kps) while hitting .211 with 48 assists (0.36 aps), 29 aces (0.22 saps), 430 digs (3.21 dps) and 78 blocks (0.58 bps). Senior outside hitter Colleen Ward has 496 kills (3.70 kps) while hitting .268 with 44 assists (0.33 aps), 29 aces (0.22 aps), 367 digs (2.74 dps) and 62 blocks (0.46 bps). The all-time series between USC and Illinois is tied at 2-2 with the last meeting coming in 2004 on Sept. 11 when Illinois snapped USC's then-NCAA record streak of 52 consecutive victories. USC swept Illinois in the only post-season meeting between the two schools in the 1985 NCAA regional semifinal in Lincoln, Nebraska.

No. 12 seed Florida State Notes
Florida State is 28-6 on the season and winners of the Minneapolis Regional after a four-set win over No. 5 seed Purdue and five-set win over No. 4 seed Iowa State. Head coach Chris Poole is in his fourth season, taking Florida State to its first-ever Final Four for women's volleyball. The Seminoles have a 14.03 kills per set and 2.98 blocks per set average while hitting .261 as a team. Senior outside hitter Jekaterina Stepanova has 410 kills (3.28 kps) while hitting .266 with 34 assists (0.27 aps), 350 digs (2.80 dps) and 59 blocks (0.47 bps). Senior outside hitter Visnja Djurdjevic has 346 kills (2.86 kps) while hitting .240 with 44 assists (0.36 aps), 33 aces (0.27 saps), 405 digs (3.35 dps) and 65 blocks (0.54 bps). USC is 1-0 all-time against Florida State with the only meeting taking place in 2006 in South Carolina.

No. 9 seed UCLA Notes
UCLA is 28-6 on the season and winners of the Lexington Regional after a 3-0 sweep of four-time defending national champion Penn State and four-set win over No. 1 seed Texas. Head coach Michael Sealy is 50-15 in his second season at UCLA. The Bruins have a 14.40 kills per set and 15.71 digs per set average while hitting .250 as a team. Junior outside hitter Rachael Kidder has 533 kills (4.63 kps) while hitting .246 with 11 aces (0.10 saps), 224 digs (1.95 dps) and 82 blocks (0.71 bps). Sophomore middle blocker Mariana Aquino has 159 kills (1.67 kps) while hitting .332 with 12 aces (0.13 saps), 47 digs (0.49 dps) and 105 blocks (1.11 bps). USC leads the all-time series with UCLA by a 52-46 margin. Both teams split the season series (UCLA won 3-0 at the Galen Center on Sept. 9 and USC won at the Wooden Center in four sets on Nov. 25). USC is 9-3 all-time in the post-season against UCLA and has won four straight post-season matches in the series. USC and UCLA has met twice for the national championship with USC winning both times (1976 for the AIAW crown and the first-ever NCAA championship in 1981).

And The Award(s) Goes To...
USC claimed four of the five major 2011 Pac-12 Conference Awards with senior Alex Jupiter being named Pac-12 Conference Player of the Year. Kendall Bateman was named Setter of the Year, Natalie Hagglund was named Libero of the Year and head coach Mick Haley was named Coach of the Year.

Jupiter, Bateman and Hagglund also earned All-Pac-12 Conference along with senior middle blocker Lauren Williams. Junior outside hitter Katie Fuller was named All-Pac-12 Conference honorable mention while middle blocker Hannah Schraer earned All-Freshman Team honorable mention.

Jupiter became the third player in USC history to be named conference player of the year (Cathy Stukel in 1980 and April Ross in 2003).

Career Builders
Seniors Alex Jupiter and Kendall Bateman have cemented their respective places in the USC all-time record books.

Jupiter now holds the USC career records for kills (1,886), points (2,222.0) and total attempts (4,676). She set the points record on Sept. 3 against UCF and broke the previous mark of 1,689.5 points (Keao Burdine, 2001-04). She set the record for career attempts, passing Jennifer Kessy (1995-98) for the school record at 4,356 on November 12 and set the kills record on November 19 against Arizona, breaking Jennifer Kessy's mark of 1,799 kills.

Bateman set a new USC career record for assists on November 25 at UCLA, breaking the previous career record of 4,258 held by Janice Mounts (1995-98). Bateman currently has 4,445 career assists.

Carrying The Banner
On November 19, USC won the Pac-12 Conference regular-season championship and finished with a 20-2 record. It was USC's seventh conference title in the history of the program, the third under head coach Mick Haley and the fourth under the Pac-10/12 alignment.

The Power of the Pac-12
Six Pac-12 Conference teams are ranked in the latest AVCA poll, including No. 1 USC, No. 4 UCLA, No. 6 Stanford, No. 10 California, No. 11 Washington and No. 13 Oregon.

This is the first season for the Pac-12 Conference with the addition of Colorado and Utah. For women's volleyball this season, all 12 teams will play a double round-robin schedule (home and away) for a total of 22 conference matches.

Record Crowd
On Sept. 9 against UCLA, USC set a new Galen Center record for women's volleyball with a crowd of 5,385 fans, the most since the arena's opening in 2006 when 5,000 fans saw USC play Stanford.

As of December 12, USC ranks 26th nationally with an average attendance this season of 1,482 fans.

Road Warriors
This is the first time since the 2002 national championship season that USC did not play a single home match during the non-conference schedule. USC played four of the first five weeks of its schedule on the road.

Statapalooza
-- The Women of Troy have made seven NCAA Final Four appearances in a 12-year span.
-- USC has made nine regional appearances in the last 12 years.
-- USC has made 21 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.
-- USC was ranked No. 1 nationally in the AVCA poll on November 14, the first time the Women of Troy have been the top-ranked team since the 2004 season.
-- As of December 12, USC has recorded 22 3-0 sweeps which is the third-highest total since the 2000 season. The 2003 national championship squad posted 28 sweeps while the 2002 national championship team recorded 24 sweeps.
-- This is the first time since 2004 that USC has returned three All-Americans on its roster: Alex Jupiter, Kendall Bateman and Lauren Williams.
-- The September 16 win at No. 4 Washington was the first win by the Women of Troy in Seattle since the 2003 national championship season.
-- USC won seven consecutive conference matches in 3-0 fashion from September 16 through October 7 to tie the longest streak of 3-0 sweeps of conference play (2003 national championship season) in the history of the program.
-- In a four-set win on October 8 at Arizona State, five different Trojans recorded double digits in kills (Alex Jupiter 15, Sara Shaw 15, Lauren Williams 12, Hannah Schraer 12 and Katie Fuller 11).
-- With the November 5 win against No. 10 Washington, USC recorded its 20th win on the season. It was the 14th time in the last 16 years that USC has registered 20 or more wins in a season.
-- As of December 12, Kendall Bateman is fourth in the nation for assists (11.98 aps). Alex Jupiter is sixth for points (5.33 pps), tied for sixth for service aces (0.52 saps) and 21st for kills (4.38 kps). Hannah Schraer is ranked 16th for hitting percentage (.385). Lauren Williams is ranked 20th with a .382 hitting percentage. Natalie Hagglund is 42nd for digs (5.09 dps).
-- As of December 12, USC is fourth in the nation for kills (14.83 kps), tied for third for hitting percentage (.289) and fifth for assists (13.66 aps).
-- Among Pac-12 Conference teams as of December 12, USC is first for kills (14.83 kps), first for assists (13.66 aps), first for hitting percentage (.289) and second for service aces (1.23 saps).
-- Among Pac-12 Conference players as of December 12, Alex Jupiter is first for service aces (0.52 saps), second for points (5.33 pps) and fourth for kills (4.38 kps).
-- Kendall Bateman is first among Pac-12 Conference players in assists (11.98 aps).
-- Hannah Schraer is second among Pac-12 Conference players in hitting percentage (.385).
-- Lauren Williams is fourth among Pac-12 Conference players with a .400 hitting percentage.
-- Natalie Hagglund is third among Pac-12 Conference players in digs (5.09 dps).
-- Katie Fuller has recorded 17 kills twice in her career (personal best), both times at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu (Sept. 5, 2010 against Hawai'i and Dec. 10, 2011, against Pepperdine).
-- USC became the 22nd program in the nation to record 800 wins. The Women of Troy recorded its 800th win on Nov. 15, 2008, against Arizona State.
-- USC is 77-9 all-time (.895) at the Galen Center.
-- USC has 10 players on its roster this season who are 6-2 or taller.

Out Of This World
Senior outside hitter Alex Jupiter (Paris, France/Redondo Union HS) will have a chance to be USC's first three-time All-American since Bibiana Candelas in 2005 and is a viable candidate for 2011 National Player of the Year. She earned AVCA All-America first team honors last year as a junior after recording 532 kills (4.40 kps) for a .299 hitting percentage with 38 aces (0.31 saps), 304 digs (2.51 dps), 77 blocks (0.64 bps) and 625.0 points (5.17 pps).

This season, she has 482 kills (4.38 kps) while hitting .267 with 57 service aces (0.52 saps), 348 digs (3.16 dps), 61 blocks (0.55 bps) and 586.0 points (5.33 pps). She was named 2011 Pac-12 Conference Player of the Year and became a three-time All-Pac-12 Conference Team selection.

Heading into the Final Four, Jupiter has posted 11 double-doubles this season with nine of them coming against Top 25 opponents.

During NCAA post-season play, she had 17 digs against Yale (one off her season high) in the first round on December 2 and had 10 kills while hitting .333 with nine digs and two blocks against Tulsa on December 3 in the second round. In the Honolulu Regional semifinal against No. 10 seed Hawai'i, she had a career-high 33 kills and 26 digs with two aces and three blocks in the five-set win. Against the Rainbow Wahine, she had eight kills and one ace in the fifth and deciding set. She broke her career high the next night in the regional final against No. 15 seed Pepperdine with 29 digs. She had 17 kills and tied her career best with five service aces to go with four blocks. She was named Most Outstanding Player for the NCAA Honolulu Regional and was named to the all-regional team.

In the final regular-season match at No. 4 UCLA, she had 18 kills with five digs, one ace and five blocks (four solo) in the four-set win. She hit .607 on 18 kills (18-1-28) on November 19 at home against Arizona with two aces, five digs and three blocks in a 3-0 sweep of the Wildcats. During the match, she broke Jennifer Kessy's school career record for kills. Against Arizona State in a four-set win on November 11, she had 17 kills while hitting .325 with nine digs and tied a season high with four blocks.

She was named Pac-12 Conference Offensive Player of the Week on November 14, the third time she received the conference honor. In 3-0 sweeps on November 11-12 at Oregon State and No. 20 Oregon, she combined for 30 kills and 41.5 points. In addition to averaging 5.00 kills per set and 6.92 points per set, she hit .324 with eight service aces (1.33 saps), 23 digs (3.83 dps) and four blocks (0.67 bps). She tallied 16 kills with three aces at Oregon State. Against Oregon, she hit .367 on 14 kills with a career-high five service aces along with 15 digs and three solo blocks.

She posted a double-double in a three-set sweep of No. 10 Washington on Oct. 22, tallying 13 kills and 17 digs. On Oct. 28 at No. 5 Stanford in a three-set loss, Jupiter had 16 kills and 11 digs. The following evening at No. 2 Cal, she posted 15 kills while hitting .406 (15-2-32) with a season-high 18 digs.

She hit .333 with nine kills in a sweep on Oct. 22 against Colorado with 12 digs, two aces and two solo blocks. For the fourth time in her career, she recorded four service aces in a match on Oct. 21 against Utah. On Oct. 14 in a four-set win over No. 16 Oregon, she tied a season high with 22 kills and set a season high with 14 kills while hitting .314 (22-6-51) with two aces and three blocks. She had a match-high 16 kills on Oct. 7 at Arizona while hitting .382 in the 3-0 sweep before a 15-kill, 13-dig performance the next night in a four-set win at Arizona State.

She had 14 kills while hitting .344 with nine digs and two solo blocks in a 3-0 sweep on Sept. 30 at Colorado and then recorded 15 kills with nine digs and two blocks while hitting .407 on October 2 at Utah. On Sept. 23 against No. 1 California, she had 16 kills, eight digs, four blocks (two solo) while hitting .343 in the sweep over the Golden Bears. She followed with a double-double against No. 2 Stanford in a three-set sweep with 15 kills and 11 digs while adding three aces. She had nine kills and 10 digs on September 16 in a 3-0 sweep at No. 4 Washington.

She earned 2011 FGCU Homewood Suites Invitational all-tournament team honors after recording 37 kills in three matches, including a 19-kill effort in a 3-0 sweep of Furman while hitting .410 (19-3-39) with seven digs. The following day in Orlando against Clemson, she had 18 kills while hitting .325 (18-5-40) with seven digs and a solo block.

She was named to the 2011 Rockvale Outlets/AVCA Showcase all-tournament team after recording 44 kills and 22 digs in two matches against No. 12 Minnesota and No. 1 Penn State in University Park, Pennsylvania. She had 22 kills and nine digs in the five-set win against Minnesota while hitting .327 and adding three solo blocks, following up in a five-set loss to Penn State with 22 kills, 13 digs and two service aces.

Jupiter posted 16 double-doubles in 2010 and 12 in 18 Pac-10 Conference matches. She was named to the 2010 All-Pac-10 Conference Team, the second straight year she received the honor. She registered a double-double against No. 3 seed Stanford in the 2010 Dayton Regional final with 23 kills and 15 digs while hitting .290 against the Cardinal and earned NCAA Dayton Regional all-tournament team honors. She was named Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week and Pac-10 Conference Player of the Week twice in 2010, becoming the first USC women's volleyball program to earn national player of the week honors twice in a season. On Nov. 1 after she recorded 42 kills in wins at home against Washington State and then-No. 7 Washington. She had 12 kills and seven digs while hitting .318 in the 3-0 sweep of Washington State on Oct. 29 and followed with a spectacular match on the FOX Sports Net Game of the Week against Washington. She had 30 kills (one away from her personal best) in the five-set win over the Huskies with 14 digs and a .414 hitting percentage (30-6-58). After getting only three kills in the first set, she came back with eight kills in the second set and nine kills in the third with no errors for a .607 hitting clip in those two sets.

On Sept. 24, 2010, against No. 11 UCLA, she registered her 1,000th career kill and became just the 17th player in USC history to accomplish the feat. She posted a team-high 21 kills to go with 12 digs in the four-set win against the Bruins. Her first AVCA National Player of the Week honor came on Sept. 6 after earning most outstanding player honors at the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic in Honolulu (Sept. 3-5). She also was named Pac-10 Conference Player of the Week, the first time she earned that honor. She posted 49 kills (4.45 kps) in three matches against three teams that were receiving votes in the coaches' poll with four aces, 26 digs (2.36 dps), 10 blocks (0.91 bps) and 61.0 points (5.55 pps). She did not have one reception error in 58 attempts on the weekend.

She led the Women of Troy in 2009 with 522 kills (4.54 kps) with 33 aces (0.29 saps), 308 digs (2.68 dps), 73 blocks (0.63 bps) and 608.0 points (5.29 pps). She earned AVCA All-America third team and AVCA All-Pacific Region honors while also earning her first All-Pac-10 Conference honor. Her 522 kills were the fourth-most in school history, along with her 5.29 points per set average. She finished seventh in the nation for points per set and 12th for kills per set during her sophomore season and recorded 15 double-doubles. She was third among all Pac-10 Conference players in points and kills and fourth for service aces. On Sept. 26 at Arizona State, Jupiter posted career-highs with 31 kills and 20 digs in a four-set win while hitting .433 (31-5-60). She earned Holiday Inn LA City Center Trojan Invitational all-tournament team honors after recording 41 kills, 21 digs and seven blocks (five solo) in three 3-0 sweeps.

During her 2008 freshman season, she registered 350 kills (3.24 kps) with 12 service aces (0.11 saps), 122 digs (1.13 dps), 59 blocks (0.55 bps) and 403.0 points (3.73 pps). She was named to the Pac-10 Conference All-Freshman Team. Jupiter recorded double digit kills in 20 matches and became the third freshman at USC since 1981 to lead the team in kills (Tracy Clark in 1982 and April Ross in 2000).

Take The Bait
Senior setter Kendall Bateman (Manhattan Beach/Mira Costa HS) earned 2010 AVCA All-America second team honors after recording 1,567 assists (12.34 aps) with 281 digs (2.21 dps) and 51 blocks (0.40 bps). She also received All-Pac-10 Conference Team honorable mention recognition.

Bateman has 1,330 assists (12.98 aps) this season with 30 kills (0.27 kps), 230 digs (2.07 dps) and 42 blocks (0.38 bps). She was named 2011 Pac-12 Conference Setter of the Year and named to the All-Pac-12 Conference Team.

As of December 12, she has orchestrated the team's offense to a .289 hitting percentage, ranking the Trojans fourth in the nation.

She had 49 assists with 17 digs (season high), two kills and two blocks in the five-set regional final win over Pepperdine. Against No. 10 seed (and No. 3 in the AVCA poll) Hawai'i for the regional semifinal on Dec. 9, she posted 59 assists (one off her season high) and 11 digs with three blocks. She was named to the NCAA All-Honolulu Regional Team. In the NCAA second round, she had 38 assists and eight digs as USC hit .372 as a team against Tulsa in a 3-0 sweep. She had two kills with 35 assists, six digs and two blocks as the Trojans hit .350 against Yale in the first round.

On Nov. 25 at No. 4 UCLA, she had 46 assists with nine digs and two blocks in the four-set win. She posted a 13.29 assists per set in wins at home against Arizona State and Arizona (November 18-19). She had 53 assists in the four-set win against ASU with seven digs and four blocks and posted 40 assists in the sweep over the Wildcats. On November 12 at No. 20 Oregon, she posted 46 assists as the team hit .359 in the 3-0 sweep. She tied her career high with two service aces and added seven digs. She had two kills with 36 assists, five digs and one block on November 11 at Oregon State as the team hit .327 for the match.

She had 36 assists in a 3-0 sweep of Washington State on November 4 with the team hitting .368 and recorded 38 assists the next evening against No. 10 Washington in another 3-0 sweep with the Trojans hitting .343 as a team. She averaged 12.83 assists per set in road matches at No. 5 Stanford and No. 2 California (Oct. 28-29). She had 37 assists with four digs and one solo block in the three-set loss at Stanford before having a 40-assist match in a sweep at Cal where the Women of Troy hit .319 as a team. She added 11 digs and four blocks against the Golden Bears.

She posted 49 assists on Oct. 14 in a four-set win over No. 16 Oregon with nine digs and three kills. In a 3-0 sweep on October 7 at Arizona, the team hit .364 as she recorded 39 assists. The following night at Arizona State, she had 60 assists (15.00 aps) in the four-set win with 10 digs and four blocks. She was named Pac-12 Conference Offensive Player of the Week on September 26 after leading USC to 3-0 sweeps at home over No. 1 California and No. 2 Stanford (Sept. 23-24). She had 42 assists (14.00 aps) with seven digs and two blocks against Cal as the Women of Troy hit .271 for the match. Against the Cardinal, she posted 41 assists with nine digs and one block.

She registered 77 assists in two 3-0 sweeps on the road (Sept. 16-17) at No. 4 Washington and Washington State. She had 41 assists (13.67 aps) against Washington with six digs, followed by 36 assists against Washington State while guiding the team to a .447 hitting night.

She had 35 assists with a kill and six digs in a win on Sept. 4 against Clemson in Orlando. She posted 45 assists (15.00 aps) in a sweep on Sept. 3 against Furman with a kill, five digs and two block assists. At the 2011 Rockvale Outlets/AVCA Showcase, Bateman had 54 assists and 11 digs against No. 12 Minnesota and 47 assists with 10 digs at No. 1 Penn State.

With Bateman handling the team's offense, USC was eighth in the nation last season for hitting percentage (.290). She sent the Trojans to Kansas City for the 2010 NCAA Final Four with 64 assists and 15 digs in the five-set win against No. 3 seed Stanford on Dec. 11 and had a career-high five kills with 35 assists and 10 digs against Indiana in the regional semifinal. Bateman earned NCAA Dayton Regional all-tournament team honors. In the Trojans' first-round match against New Mexico, she had 42 assists and six digs as USC hit .330, followed by 55 assists in a four-set win against No. 18 San Diego with two kills and five digs as the team hit .338.

She posted 63 assists with seven digs and four blocks on Nov. 26, 2010, in a five-set win at No. 9 UCLA. She posted a career-high 5.0 points on Nov. 5 against No. 2 California, tying her career bests with three kills and two service aces. In the four-set win against the Golden Bears, she registered 58 assists and eight digs. She recorded a career-high 71 assists (14.20 aps) in a five-set win on Oct. 22 against No. 16 Oregon and orchestrated an offensive attack that hit .392 against the Ducks. The following night, she had 41 assists in a 3-0 sweep of Oregon State as the Trojans hit .370 for the match.

She earned all-tournament honors at the 2010 Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic in Honolulu after leading USC to a 3-0 mark with wins over No. 4 Hawai'i, New Mexico and Michigan State. She had 126 assists (11.45 aps), 17 digs (1.55 dps) and 11 blocks (1.00 bps) as she guided the team to a .302 hitting percentage on the weekend. She had a career-high six blocks in the five-set win on Sept. 5 against No. 4 Hawai'i, adding 53 assists and six digs. She posted 41 assists and guided the Women of Troy to a .407 hitting night in a 3-0 sweep of Michigan State.

As a sophomore, she earned 2009 Pac-10 Conference honorable mention and Pac-10 Conference All-Academic honorable mention recognition after leading the nation with a 12.41 assists per set average. She recorded 227 digs (1.97 dps) and 48 blocks (0.42 bps) on the season and handled an offense that hit .248, ranking 35th in the nation. USC also finished second in the nation for assists per set and kills per set.

She posted 49 assists and 12 digs against Oklahoma in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament at the Galen Center and finished the regular season by registering career highs with 62 assists (15.5 aps) and 15 digs in a four-set win on Nov. 28 against No. 19 Arizona. She earned her first-ever Pac-10 Conference Player of the Week honor on Nov. 23 after recording 80 assists and 10 digs in two 3-0 sweeps. She had 57 assists, seven digs and three block assists against No. 4 Washington on Nov. 13 in a five-set win and then posted 60 assists (15.00 aps) with eight digs in a four-set win against No. 25 Washington State.

Bateman appeared in 24 matches in her 2008 freshman season and recorded 117 assists on the season (2.72 aps) with two aces (0.05 saps), 32 digs (0.74 dps) and seven blocks (0.16 bps). She made her first collegiate start in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Dec. 5 against No. 15 San Diego, recording season-highs in the four-set victory with 25 assists, 10 digs and four blocks.

During the summer of 2008, Bateman played for the U.S. Junior National Team, playing at the FIVB World Championship in Mexico. She was a two-time member of the U.S. Girls' National Team, part of the squad that finished 10th at the 2007 FIVB Girls' World Championship in Mexico and a member of the squad that won the 2006 NORCECA championship.

She was a two-time Mizuno/Volleyball Magazine All-American at Mira Costa High and led the Mustangs to a perfect 37-0 record and the school's fourth straight state championship in her senior season. She was part of the mythical national championship squads in her junior and senior seasons as named by prepvolleyball.com and named CIF most valuable player in her senior season.

Surf's Up
Sophomore libero Natalie Hagglund (Encinitas/La Costa Canyon HS) continues a promising career after being rated the top incoming libero by Prep Volleyball and 27th overall recruit in 2010. Along with her volleyball prowess, Hagglund is an accomplished surfer, winning the 2007 San Diego County High School Girls' Long Board Surfing championship.

She has 565 digs (5.09 dps) this season and was named 2011 Pac-12 Conference Libero of the Year. After the Women of Troy's victory in the Honolulu Regional final against Pepperdine, she moved into fourth place on USC's single-season list for total digs.

Hagglund provided spectacular defense during the NCAA Honolulu Regional as she was perfect on her serve receive (43-for-43) and recorded 57 digs (5.70 dps) in the two five-set victories against No. 10 seed Hawai'i and No. 15 seed Pepperdine. In the regional final against Pepperdine, she had 32 digs (one off her season best) with four assists after a 25-dig performance the night before against Hawai'i with two assists. She registered 30 digs (5.00 dps) in the first two rounds of the 2011 NCAA Women's Volleyball Tournament against Yale and Tulsa.

On November 11 at Oregon State, she had 17 digs for a 5.67 digs per set average. She had 22 digs (7.33 dps) in a sweep on November 4 against Washington State.

Hagglund had 25 digs and four assists on Oct. 14 in a four-set win over No. 16 Oregon. She set a personal best with 33 digs on October 8 in a four-set win at Arizona State. She had 41 digs in two 3-0 sweeps (Sept. 16-17) at No. 4 Washington and Washington State. She tied the school record for most digs in a three-set match with 30 against the fourth-ranked Huskies, tying the mark held by Debora Seilhamer (vs. Pepperdine, December 3, 2005). She recorded 17 digs in a 3-0 loss on Sept. 2 against UCF in Fort Myers, Florida.

This summer, Hagglund was the starting libero for the United States Junior National Team that competed at the FIVB Volleyball Women's Junior World Championship Peru 2011. She was named Best Libero for the tournament after posting a 56.99 success percentage on 365 total attempts. She averaged 4.90 digs per set, the second-highest total in the tournament for Team USA, which finished fourth.

She finished with 498 (3.98 dps) last season was named to the 2010 Pac-10 Conference All-Freshman Team. She had a team-high 16 digs in the Dayton Regional final win against No. 3 seed Stanford. She recorded 27 digs in a five-set win on Nov. 26 at No. 9 UCLA. She posted 23 digs on Oct. 30 against No. 7 Washington and had a season-high 28 digs (7.00 dps) in a four-set loss at Arizona State.

She earned 2009-10 Under Armour All-America first team honors and played for the La Costa Canyon High squad that won the San Diego Section Division I championship in four sets. Hagglund played for the 2009 U.S. Under-19 Beach Volleyball squad as part of the No. 2 team and was part of the youngest team ever to qualify for the main draw of the AVP Manhattan Beach Open (2009). In high school, she was a member of the 2008 La Costa Canyon High squad that was named national champions by Prep Volleyball and Max Preps.

Where There's A Will, There's A Way
Senior middle blocker Lauren Williams (Houston, Texas/Stratford HS) earned 2010 AVCA All-America third team honors after recording 286 kills (2.40 kps) with a .417 hitting percentage (finishing seventh in the nation) with 115 blocks (0.97 bps) and 358.5 points (3.01 pps). She was named All-Pac-10 Conference for the first time as well.

This season, Williams has 285 kills (2.64 kps) while hitting .382 with 87 blocks (0.81 bps) and 333.5 points (3.09 pps). She was named 2011 All-Pac-12 Conference, the second time she earned the conference honor.

She had seven kills in both Honolulu Regional matches against Hawai'i and Pepperdine with five blocks (one solo, four assisted) against the host Rainbow Wahine. She recorded 10 kills in both post-season matches against Yale and Tulsa (Dec. 2 and 3) at the Galen Center. She posted an identical .368 (10-3-19) percentage for both matches with four blocks in the sweep against Tulsa.

Against No. 4 UCLA on Nov. 25, she posted 10 kills and four blocks (two solo) in the 3-1 win. She hit .833 on 10 kills (10-0-12) in a 3-0 sweep on November 19 against Arizona. On November 18 against Arizona State, she became the 18th player in USC history to reach 1,000 career kills. She had 11 kills while hitting .429 with four blocks.

She was named Pac-12 Conference Offensive Player of the Week on November 7, the second time she earned the conference honor. In 3-0 sweeps against Washington State and No. 10 Washington (November 4-5), Williams hit .692 with 20 kills with only two errors on 26 attempts with six blocks. Against the Cougars, she was a perfect 9-for-9 with three blocks and hit .529 on 11 kills (11-2-17) with three blocks against the Huskies.

She had 10 kills and five blocks in a four-set win on Oct. 14 against No. 16 Oregon. In two wins at Arizona and Arizona State (Oct. 7-8), she hit .477 with 23 kills against only three errors. She had 11 kills while hitting .588 against the Wildcats and had 12 kills at the Sun Devils while hitting .407 with a season-high seven blocks.

She hit .529 on 10 kills (10-1-17) with three blocks on Oct. 2 in a 3-0 sweep at Utah. She had nine kills with no errors (.429) against No. 1 California on Sept. 23 in a 3-0 sweep. She hit .571 (13-1-21) on 13 kills with two blocks in a 3-0 sweep on September 17 at Washington State.

In four matches from Sept. 2-4 in Florida, she had 36 kills and hit .552 as she recorded only one hitting error in every match. Against Furman on Sept. 3, she had 12 kills while hitting .611 (12-1-18). Williams hit .418 at the 2011 Rockvale Outlets/AVCA Showcase in University Park, Pennsylvania, recorded 27 kills (2.70 kps) with seven blocks.

In 2010, she posted 13 kills and five blocks on December 10, in the five-set win over No. 3 seed Stanford in the Dayton Regional final after 10 kills and four blocks the previous night against Indiana. Against No. 18 San Diego in an NCAA second-round match, she had 10 kills and hit .562 (10-1-16) with five blocks in the four-set victory. In the five-set win on Nov. 23 at No. 23 Oregon, she tied her career highs with 19 kills and eight blocks while hitting .533 (19-3-30).

She tied her personal best with eight blocks (the fifth time she did so in her career) on Oct. 30 against Washington. She had one of her best matches of the season on Oct. 22 in a five-set win at home against No. 16 Oregon when she had a season-high 17 kills and hit .640 (17-1-25) against the Ducks. She earned all-tournament honors at the 2010 Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic in Honolulu after leading USC to a 3-0 mark with wins over No. 4 Hawai'i, New Mexico and Michigan State. She was second on the team with 31 kills (2.82 kps) while hitting .473 with 18 blocks (1.64 bps).

In 2009, she made 30 starts in 31 matches as a sophomore. She finished fourth among Pac-10 Conference players with a .371 hitting percentage and third on the team with 281 kills (2.55 kps). She recorded 15 assists (0.14 aps), 19 digs (0.17 dps) and 343.5 points (3.12 pps) while leading the team with 105 total blocks (0.95 bps) with 20 solo blocks. She finished the season with double-digit kills in four consecutive matches. She had a team-high 14 kills and hit .407 (14-3-27) with a career-high eight block assists against No. 3 Hawai'i on Dec. 5, 2009, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and earned her first-ever Pac-10 Conference Player of the Week honor on Nov. 16, 2009, after registering 33 kills while hitting .462 with 11 blocks and 41.0 points in wins over No. 4 Washington and No. 25 Washington State. She had 14 kills and eight blocks (four solo) while hitting .364 against Washington. She followed that with a career-high 19 kills against Washington State without a single error for a .559 night (19-0-34).

In her first collegiate season in 2008, Williams earned Pac-10 Conference honorable mention recognition and was named to the Pac-10 Conference All-Freshman Team. She had 209 kills (2.11 kps) with a .323 hitting percentage and a team-leading 103 blocks (1.04 bps) with 15 solo blocks and 88 block assists. On Oct. 11, 2008, in a five-set loss to No. 10 Washington, Williams recorded a season-high 16 kills with six block assists while hitting .462 (16-4-26). She hit .550 (12-1-20) on Nov. 21 at No. 2 Stanford and followed it with a .455 match (11-1-22) with four blocks at No. 7 Cal.

She played on the 2008 U.S. Women's A2 National Team and played on the 2007 Junior National Training Team. Williams is a fifth-year senior after redshirting at USC during the 2007 season.

The Pattern Is Full
Junior outside hitter Katie Fuller (Olivenhain, Calif./La Costa Canyon HS) recorded 220 kills (1.86 kps) last season with a .232 hitting percentage, 21 aces (0.18 saps), 136 digs (1.15 dps), 61 blocks (0.52 bps) and 272.0 points (2.31 pps).

This season, she has 317 kills (2.86 kps) with a .259 hitting percentage, 19 service aces (0.17 saps), 188 digs (1.69 dps), 54 blocks (0.49 bps) and 364.5 points (3.28 pps). She earned 2011 Pac-12 Conference honorable mention recognition.

She tied with teammate Alex Jupiter with a match-high 17 kills in the Honolulu Regional victory on December 10 against Pepperdine with two digs and three blocks. She led all Trojan starters with a .294 hitting clip on December 9 against Hawai'i on 12 kills with eight digs and three blocks. On December 3, she had 10 kills while hitting .400 (10-0-25) with six digs and one block in an NCAA second-round match against Tulsa. In the first round against Yale, she had seven kills while hitting .500 (7-0-14) and tied her career best with four service aces.

Fuller posted a season-high 16 kills and led the starters with a .314 hitting percentage in a four-set win on November 25 at No. 4 UCLA, adding eight digs and four blocks. She had 11 kills and 10 digs in four sets on Oct. 14 against No. 16 Oregon and then hit .692 (9-0-13) on nine kills against Oregon State on Oct. 15. She had 11 kills and four blocks in a four-set win on October 8 at Arizona State.

She tied a career high with 13 digs as part of her first double-double of the season, adding 12 kills, in a 3-0 win on Oct. 2 at Utah. In a 3-0 sweep of No. 2 Stanford on Sept. 24, she had 14 kills and nine digs. She had a season-high 15 kills, adding six digs and two blocks in a 3-0 sweep on Sept. 16 at No. 4 Washington, followed by a 12-kill performance at Washington State, where she hit .579 (12-1-19) with five digs and three blocks. She had eight kills while hitting .412 (8-1-17) on Sept. 4 in a 3-0 win over Clemson in Orlando, Florida.

Fuller had five kills and six blocks (one off her personal best) on Dec. 4, 2010, in the NCAA Tournament second-round win against No. 18 San Diego. She had seven kills and a career-high seven blocks on Nov. 26 in a five-set win at No. 9 UCLA. On Sept. 5 in a five-set win at No. 4 Hawai'i, she posted career highs with 17 kills, six digs, six blocks and 20.5 points while hitting .382. She had eight kills and hit .312 in a 3-0 sweep on Sept. 4 against Michigan State.

She filled in admirably during the Portland and Fresno State matches (Sept. 18-19) as a freshman in 2009. She led the team with 10 kills against Portland with two digs and one block while hitting .471 (10-2-17) in the 3-0 sweep. The following night against Fresno State, she had five kills with seven digs and two service aces.

The Shawshank Redemption
Sophomore outside hitter Sara Shaw (Austin, Texas/Westlake HS) received 2010 Pac-10 Conference All-Freshman Team honorable mention recognition after recording 36 kills (0.37 kps) for a .207 hitting percentage with 136 digs (1.40 dps), 12 blocks (0.12 bps) and 45.5 points (0.47 pps).

She has 207 kills (2.11 kps) this season while hitting 221 with 15 aces (0.15 saps), 227 digs (2.32 dps) and 243.5 points (2.48 pps).

In the regional final against Pepperdine, she had seven kills, 15 digs and three blocks. Against Hawai'i, she posted eight kills with 11 digs, two aces and two solo blocks. She had seven kills and 12 digs in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in a sweep against Yale and tallied seven kills with 11 digs and three blocks in the second round against Tulsa.

She had 10 kills with nine digs and hit .333 on November 18 in a four-set win against Arizona State. She registered a career-high 17 kills on November 12 at No. 20 Oregon while hitting .538 (17-3-26) with two assists, seven digs and one solo block during the 3-0 sweep.

She recorded 10 kills and seven digs on Oct. 14 in a four-set win over No. 16 Oregon. On October 8 at Arizona State, she tied her career best with 15 kills and set a new personal best with 19 digs in the four-set victory. She tied a then-career best with 12 digs in a 3-0 sweep on Sept. 30 at Colorado. On Sept. 24 against No. 2 Stanford, she had 11 kills and a career-high three blocks in the 3-0 sweep.

Shaw had a career night at No. 4 Washington on Sept. 16 with 15 kills while hitting .481 (15-2-27). She added 11 digs, one away from her personal best. She hit .583 (8-1-12) the next evening at Washington State with six digs and two solo blocks. She recorded a season-high 10 digs on Dec. 11 in the 2010 Dayton Regional final against No. 3 seed Stanford with her previous high being 10 digs in a 3-0 sweep on Oct. 23 against Oregon State.

She was rated No. 11 nationally by Prep Volleyball and played for the 2009 U.S. Women's Junior National Team. She also was a finalist for the Prep Volleyball National Player of the Year honor and 2010 Volleyball Magazine Fab 50 selection. Shaw earned 2009-10 Under Armour All-America first team honors after leading Westlake to its third straight Class 5A state final and was named 2009 Gatorade State Player of the Year.

Standing Guard
Sophomore middle blocker Alexis Olgard (Spokane, Wash./Mead HS) was named to the 2010 Pac-10 Conference All-Freshman Team after recording 195 kills (1.73 kps) with a .366 hitting percentage (placing her 34th nationally) with 93 blocks (0.82 bps) and 259.0 points (2.29 pps).

Olgard made her season debut on Sept. 30 at Colorado after undergoing a knee operation in the spring and dealing with a bout of mononucleosis at the start of the season. She has 90 kills (1.76 kps) while hitting .410 with 42 blocks (0.82 bps).

In NCAA post-season play this season, she recorded five blocks against Hawai'i and Pepperdine with seven and six kills, respectively. She opened the tournament with 11 kills and no errors while hitting .647 (11-0-17) with three blocks against Yale. In the second-round match with Tulsa, she posted a similar 11 kills and no errors with a .733 hitting clip (11-0-15) and two blocks.

She had six kills and six blocks (one solo, five assisted) in a 3-1 win on Nov. 25 at No. 4 UCLA. Against Arizona State and Arizona (Nov. 18-19), she had 20 kills and no errors. She had 11 kills while hitting .500 with four blocks against the Sun Devils and had nine kills while hitting .692 (9-0-13) the next evening against the Wildcats. In her first start of the season on Oct. 29 at No. 2 California, she posted eight kills for a .368 match (8-1-19) and five blocks (two solo). She recorded two kills and four blocks on Oct. 15 against Oregon State.

Last season, in the Dayton Regional final against No. 3 Stanford, she hit .636 on eight kills (8-1-11) with three blocks. During the Trojans' second-round match in the NCAA Tournament against No. 18 San Diego, she missed her season-highs by one for kills with 11 and blocks with eight against the No. 18 Toreros. She had a season-high nine blocks to go with eight kills in a five-set win on Nov. 26 at No. 9 UCLA. Against No. 1 Stanford on Oct. 8, she had nine kills with no errors and three blocks for a .450 night and recorded 12 kills in a .500 night with two blocks against No. 7 California.

She was rated as the No. 5 recruit in the nation by Prep Volleyball and played for the 2009 U.S. Women's Junior National Team while being an alternate for the 2008 squad. She was a finalist for the Prep Volleyball National Player of the Year honor and 2010 Volleyball Magazine Fab 50 selection. At the 2009 FIVB Junior World Championship in Mexico, she finished fourth in blocks among all players and 20th in scoring. She was an integral part of three state championship squads (2006, 2007 and 2009) and was named 2009 Gatorade State Player of the Year as well as 2009 Inland Northwest Junior Female Athlete of the Year.

Rare Treat
Freshman middle blocker Hannah Schraer (Arcadia/Mayfield HS) made an impressive collegiate debut at the Rockvale Outlets/AVCA Showcase. She recorded 11 kills and seven blocks in two matches against No. 12 Minnesota and No. 1 Penn State while hitting .400 (11-1-25).

She has 133 kills (1.77 kps) this season while hitting .385 with 45 blocks (0.60 bps). She earned 2011 Pac-12 Conference All-Freshman Team honorable mention.

She was a factor on December 10 in the NCAA Honolulu Regional win over No. 15 seed Pepperdine as she entered late in the match with the Trojans trailing, 2-1. She posted six kills with no errors and four blocks (two solo) and recorded the final point of the match to send USC to the NCAA Final Four.

She hit .714 on six kills on October 7 at Arizona and followed the next night with by recording season highs in kills (12) and blocks (five). Against No. 1 California on Sept. 23, she hit .600 on a season-high nine kills (9-0-15) without recording a hitting error. She hit .889 (8-0-9) with a solo block against Florida Gulf Coast on Sept. 2 and had seven kills in a .636 match (7-0-11) the following day against Furman.

Burn Notice
Sophomore outside hitter Kirby Burnham (Newport Beach/Newport Harbor HS) started in four matches and played in 20 matches as a freshman last season, recording 38 kills (1.03 kps) with 38 digs (1.03 dps) and 42.5 points (1.15 pps). She started as an outside hitter, but switched to a backup setter role behind Kendall Bateman.

She has 72 kills (1.71 kps) this season while hitting .259 with 65 digs (1.55 dps) and 81.5 points (1.94 pps).

She posted eight kills while hitting .375 in a sweep against Oregon State on Oct. 15. She recorded nine kills, two aces and five digs while hitting .450 (9-0-20) in a three-set sweep on Sept. 3 at Florida Gulf Coast. On August 27 at No. 1 Penn State during the Rockvale Outlets/AVCA Showcase, Burnham registered a career-high 15 kills, 12 digs and 15.0 points in the five-set loss.

She was rated as the No. 49 incoming recruit in the nation by Prep Volleyball and was a 2010 Volleyball Magazine Fab 50 selection, along with earning All-America honors by Prep Volleyball. She was the team captain for the Newport Harbor squad that won the 2009 CIF-SS Division 1-AA championship as Burnham earned 2009 All-CIF Southern Section first team honors. She was named most valuable player in the CIF Division I state championship match after posting 12 kills in the 3-0 sweep of Salinas. Burnham was a member of the National Charity League where she completed 50-100 hours of community service a year and created her own neighborhood food drive in her community while she was in high school.

Yo, Adrian!
Junior defensive specialist Erin Yoder (San Clemente/San Clemente HS) has played in 14 matches this season. She has five service aces (0.07 saps) and 33 digs (0.45 dps) on the year.

In the regional final against Pepperdine, she recorded a career-high seven digs.

She had four digs on December 3, 2010, in an NCAA first-round match against New Mexico.

Her father, Bob, was a two-time All-American player on the USC men's volleyball team and the 1977 national championship squad. He went on to coach the men's team (1982-89) to five NCAA Final Four appearances and the 1988 national championship.

Summer Breeze
Freshman defensive specialist Bria Russ (Long Beach/Poly HS) has appeared in 24 matches this season, utilized mainly for her serving. She has eight service aces (0.14 saps) and 26 digs (0.46 dps) this season.

Young Gun
Freshman outside hitter/setter Emily Young (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg HS) has 16 kills (0.70 kps) this season with the left-hander hitting .308 with four digs (0.17 dps) and four blocks (0.17 bps).

She posted a season-high five kills on Oct. 15 against Oregon State while hitting .556 (5-0-9). with two blocks.

From Serbia With Love
Junior middle blocker Nataša Šiljkovic (Uzice, Serbia/School of Economy) made her collegiate debut in October of 2010 and played in nine matches for the Women of Troy. She recorded 13 kills (1.00 kps) and 16.0 points (1.23 pps).

She tied her season best with four kills on Oct. 22 against Colorado. She had a season-high four kills in a 3-0 sweep on Nov. 12 against No. 20 Arizona.

While going to the School of Economy, she also played in the Serbian National Team program on the youth, junior and senior squads. She was a member of the 2008 and 2009 squads that finished fourth at the European Championships and a member of the 2007 squad that finished second at the European Championships. She was the fourth-ranked blocker at the 2007 World Championships in Mexico.

Friends Of Jaclyn
The USC women's volleyball program has been involved with the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation (FOJ), a non-profit, charitable organization that improves the quality of life for children with pediatric brain tumors and their families formed in 2005. According to the American Brain Tumor Association, more than 4,000 children are diagnosed with a brain tumor in the United States every year.

FOJ has completed over 300 adoptions in over 25 different sports. There are currently over 1,000 schools on a waiting list for FOJ adoptions.

This season, the Women of Troy adopted Shelby Taylor, who was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2004, and currently in the eighth grade. Once the tumor was removed, she lost the ability to move or speak within two days, but steadily improved. She has been cancer-free since then and is a welcome addition to the team this season.

For more information on the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, go online at friendsofjaclyn.org.

Court of Dreams
The dream finally became reality on Oct. 12, 2006 as the brand-new Galen Center made its debut. The 10,258-seat arena is located on the corner of Figueroa St. and Jefferson Blvd., adjacent to the USC campus. The arena is named after Lou and Helene Galen, who generously donated $50 million towards the project.

USC mourned the loss of Lou Galen, who passed away on Nov. 12, 2007, at the age of 82.

Celebrating USC's Olympic Heritage
The USC athletic department, which has produced more Olympians, gold medalists and overall medalists than any other U.S. university, will conduct a year-long celebration of its tradition of nurturing successful Olympic athletes.

The salute, themed "Cardinal and Gold Medal Heritage," will lead up to the 2012 London Games. The celebration is part of the Pac-12 Conference's "Follow The Pac-12 To London" initiative to recognize the league's Olympic tradition prior to the 2012 Games.

Since 1904, 393 Trojan athletes have competed in the Olympic Games (they have won 583 places on Olympic teams), taking home 122 gold medals (with at least 1 gold in every summer Olympics from 1912), 76 silver and 60 bronze. The USC women's volleyball program has produced 22 Olympians, beginning in 1964 with Patti Lucas-Bright (USC's first season as a recognized collegiate program was 1976 at the AIAW level, but the Women of Troy still competed in women's volleyball).

If USC competed as a country, its 258 total medals would be tied for 18th among all countries (while its 122 gold medals would be tied for 12th). In six different Olympics, USC's medal count would have placed it among the Top 10 nations.

USC Olympians have represented 57 different countries and have participated in 28 different sports.

All-Time Great Night
Since the Galen Center's opening, the USC women's volleyball program has honored its former players with a banner ceremony with the individual having their number and name listed in the rafters for a full year.

The Women of Troy honored Kim Ruddins for the Sept. 24 match against Stanford. Ruddins (1981-85) was a two-time first team All-American in 1984 and 1985 as a setter from Los Angeles (Westchester High). She represented the United States in the 1984 and 1988 Olympics.

Looking Ahead
With the loss of senior All-Americans Alex Jupiter, Kendall Bateman and Lauren Williams, the Women of Troy have added three players for the 2012 season. The new freshmen next season are: 6-4 middle blocker Alicia Ogoms (Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada)/St. Mary's Academy), 5-11 setter/outside hitter Cinnamon Sary (Newport Beach/Newport Harbor HS) and 6-1 middle blocker Kiara Wright (Houston, Texas/Clear Lake HS).

"We got a great skill position player with two tremendous athletes and we are excited about their possibilities down the road," said USC head coach Mick Haley. "We felt that with a skilled sophomore class that we have, we were able to add some athleticism and size with this class. We believe all three players will show great improvement as they go along."