Oct. 2, 2010

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PULLMAN, Wash. -- Alex Jupiter's 19 kills (.516), three aces and six blocks led No. 5 USC volleyball (13-1, 2-1) to a 25-15, 25-17, and 25-19 win over Washington State (6-8, 0-4) Saturday night before 683 fans at Bohler Gym.

WSU's Meagan Ganzer led the team with 14 kills and added three blocks and six digs. Conley Kipp had five kills and five blocks and the lone Cougar ace of the night. Oceana Bush led the Cougars with 14 digs while Faith Hutcherson contributed another 11 digs. Sara Biondi had 28 assists.

USC's Lauren Williams had five blocks and Natalie Hagglund had a match-high 16 digs. Setter Kendall Bateman had 39 assists.

USC dominated the first set behind the Jupiter's 9 kills and .750 hitting percentage. Ganzer has six kills as the Cougars tried to mount a late charge but USC won 25-15. The Women of Troy hit .324 in the opener and held WSU to .133 hitting percentage.

The visitors were not as potent offensively in the second set, nailing 15 kills but with 8 errors for a .167 hitting percentage, but the Cougars could manage only eight kills with five errors (.083). USC takes the set 25-17.

Bush, who has seen significant playing time in the front row in the absence of Rachel Todorovich (abdominal strain), returned to the back row as the libero in the third set and revitalized the Cougars. But the height of the Trojans proved to be too much and the visitors take the third set 25-19.

Cougar Head Coach Andrew Palileo, regarding the lineup change in the third set said, "Sara's outside sets were a little inconsistent so I wanted to make it easier and I thought we could attack them in their middle left seam and the pin. We did a little bit but I thought we played a lot better in the third set and made the adjustments quick enough but we killed ourselves with errors in between those good plays. I think USC can be scary good by the end of the year. Their ball control has improved a lot and they have the offensive firepower to do it. They are more mature and I think they are only going to get better as the year goes on."

Washington State will spend the next two weekends on the road, meeting No. 10