USC Sweeps Past Duke, Advances to Round of 16

Fourth-seeded USC used a balanced attack to defeat Duke, 30-18, 30-19, 30-22, in the second round of the NCAA women’s volleyball playoffs Saturday at Durham, N.C.

Freshmen Keao Burdine and Alicia Robinson each had 13 kills for the Trojans (24-3), who hit .377 for the match.

Jennifer Pahl had 10 kills and three blocks for USC, which advanced to the round of 16 to face 13th-seeded Ohio State.

Duke (23-5) played without senior captain Ashley Harris, who broke her finger during practice earlier on Saturday.

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At Long Beach:

Long Beach State d. San Diego, 30-28, 30-16, 30-13--The top-seeded and undefeated 49ers won and advanced to play 16th-seeded Northern Iowa.

Tayyiba Haneef had 18 kills and Elisha Thomas had 14 kills and five blocks for Long Beach (30-0), which hit .403 as a team. Cheryl Weaver had 12 kills and 10 digs for the 49ers.

Devon Forster had 13 kills and 11 digs for San Diego (22-9).

At State College, Pa.:

UCLA d. Penn State, 30-11, 30-28, 30-18--Kristee Porter had 19 kills and Ashley Bowles had 11 kills, 11 digs and five blocks for the eighth-seeded Bruins (20-8), who advanced to play ninth-seeded Hawaii.

Penn State (22-8), which hit only .050 for the match, lost for the first time at home in an NCAA tournament match.

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In the NAIA semifinals:

Fresno Pacific, Point Loma Nazarene fall--Columbia (Mo.) defeated Fresno Pacific, 30-18, 26-30, 30-20, 25-30, 15-12, in the first semifinal at West Palm Beach, Fla. Hu Xiao Feng had 20 kills and 19 digs for Fresno Pacific (35-4). Columbia, which improved to 37-0, has lost only five games this season.

National American (39-2) defeated Point Loma Nazarene, 24-30, 30-19, 30-22, 21-30, 15-8. Carolina Sbodio had 17 kills, 12 digs and four blocks for Point Loma (35-4).