The USC women's volleyball team is coached by Brad Keller, who was named to the position on February 20, 2020. Under the last coach, Mick Haley, USC became the first repeat NCAA Volleyball National Champion to go undefeated, as they finished off 2003 with a record of 35–0 while becoming the first school in NCAA history to stay at number one in the coaches poll every week.

History

The program began in 1976. The first coach, Chuck Erbe, led the team to four national championships, 1 NCAA (1981) and three

AIAW The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was a college athletics organization in the United States, founded in 1971 to govern women's college competitions in the country and to administer national championships (see AIAW Cham ...

(1976–77, 1980). Women's volleyball also has 10 final four appearances (1981, 1982, 1985, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2011), finishing as the National runner-up in 1982. More recently, USC sent three female volleyball athletes to the

2008 Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...

– 2004 graduate Nicole Davis represented the indoor United States team, earning a silver medal. 2008 graduate Asia Kaczor represented her native

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

for indoor play, while 2006 alum Bibiana Candelas teamed up with

Mayra García Mayra Aide García Lopez (born May 16, 1972 in Tecate, Baja California) is a beach volleyball player from Mexico, who won the silver medal in the women's beach team competition at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, ...

in beach volleyball, representing her native country, Mexico.

Year by year highlights

1981

1981 was the first year the NCAA started sponsoring women's volleyball. USC, with a 26–10 record, defeated favored

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

Pauley Pavilion Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion, commonly known as Pauley Pavilion, is an indoor arena located in the Westwood Village district of Los Angeles, California, on the campus of UCLA. It is home to the UCLA Bruins men's and women's basketball teams. Th ...

to win the first NCAA volleyball championship in NCAA history.

2002–04

USC won the program's second NCAA championship by defeating No. 2 and defending national champion

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

3–1. Keao Burdine was named the Most Outstanding Player. In 2003, USC repeated as national champions. With a 35–0 record, the Women of Troy became the first repeat champion to go undefeated. USC defeated

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

3–1 in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

. In 2004, USC made its third consecutive final four, by upsetting No. 1

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

in the regional final. In the national semifinals, the Women of Troy lost to No. 4 seeded

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, the eventual national runners-up. USC is the only school in the history of the AVCA Showcase tournament to win back-to-back AVCA Showcase titles, as the Women of Troy won in 2003 by defeating

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

and 2004 by defeating

2007

USC made its first final four since 2004, upsetting fourth-seeded

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

in the regional final. In the national semifinal, the Women of Troy nearly defeated top-seeded and eventual national runner-up Stanford, even having match point, but ended up losing the fifth set in extra points, 16–14. During the regular season, USC had beaten the Cardinal once.

2010

Starting the season ranked tenth nationally, the Women of Troy compiled a 25–4 regular-season record, the eighth 25-win season in coach Haley's 10-year tenure. Notably, in the regular season USC recorded a sweep of crosstown rival UCLA in conference play, including a 3–2 margin in the last match before postseason play, avenging losses in both 2009 matches. The Women of Troy dropped just one set through the first three rounds of the NCAA tournament before facing Stanford in the quarterfinal. Though the Cardinal had defeated USC in both regular-season matches, the Women of Troy edged Stanford in a five-setter, led by Falyn Fonoimoana's season-high 25 kills. It was USC's first win against Stanford in seven tries dating to 2007. Despite having won both regular season matches against Cal, the Women of Troy hit a season low .107 as a team—including a negative hitting percentage in the first set—and were swept, 3–0, in the semifinal. USC finished 29–5 on the season.

Venues

The North Gym, located in the USC Physical Education Building, was the team's home court from 1976 until 1988. From 1989 to 2006, the North Gym and the Lyon Center split time as the team's home court. In 2007, the team moved to the

Galen Center The Galen Center is a multipurpose indoor arena and athletic facility owned and operated by the University of Southern California. Located at the southeast corner of Jefferson Boulevard and Figueroa Street in the Exposition Park area of Los Ang ...

as its home court, but uses the old venues if the Galen Center is reserved for other events.

Notable players

* Bibiana Candelas –

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

beach volleyball Olympian * Nicole Davis –

and

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

indoor volleyball Olympian * Falyn Fonoimoana – professional indoor and beach volleyball player * Debbie Green-Vargas, –

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

indoor volleyball Olympian, highly regarded as the greatest women's volleyball setter in USA volleyball history.2003 inductees for USC Athletic Hall of Fame
/ref> * Joanna Kaczor –

indoor volleyball Olympian * Jennifer Kessy –

Olympic silver medalist in beach volleyball * Khalia Lanier – Professional volleyball player * Cindy Marina – Miss Universe Albania 2019 and member of the Albania women's national volleyball team * April Ross –

Olympic silver medalist in beach volleyball,

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Olympic bronze medalist in beach volleyball

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Olympic gold medalist in beach volleyball * Geena Urango – Professional beach volleyball player * Paula Weishoff –

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, and

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

indoor volleyball Olympian * Susan Woodstra –

indoor volleyball Olympian, assistant coach for the

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:USC Trojans women's volleyball