Trojans Are Proven Winners

USC may have been at the top of the national rankings most of the season and earned its status as favorite to win the NCAA women’s volleyball championship. After all, the Trojans had the nation’s best record and the most complete team.

But they were facing Stanford, the most successful program in tournament history and the defending national champion. That made them the underdog in the eyes of many at New Orleans Arena, site of Saturday’s national title match.

So the Trojans (31-1) went out and proved they were the best. Using its balance and amazing depth, USC captured its first NCAA championship since 1981 with a 30-27, 23-30, 30-24, 30-26 victory over the Cardinal.

The Trojans hadn’t won a title since the first year the NCAA sanctioned the sport. They won three Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women titles before the 1981 championship.

“It’s been my dream to win a championship at USC,” said senior Lauren Killian, the team’s captain. “I came to USC to do something that my dad [Don] did in 1977. I don’t want this moment to end.”

USC avenged its only loss of the season, against the Cardinal on Nov. 2. Even as Stanford showed a champion’s heart in games 3 and 4 with late comebacks, the Trojans were determined not to go home with runner-up trophies.

“Personally, I wasn’t going to make any predictions,” outside hitter April Ross said. “But if we’re going to be in a game like this, we’re just not going to lose.”

Stanford (32-5) appeared to be peaking as it sought its NCAA-record sixth national championship. It had lost only one game in five postseason matches.

It also had two-time defending national player of the year Logan Tom and big-hitting All-American sophomore Oganna Nnamani on its side.

USC had more to work with, though. Junior middle blocker Katie Olsovsky led the Trojans with 16 kills, tournament MVP Keao Burdine and Ross each had 15 and Emily Adams added 12 with only two errors.

“They had a lot of weapons,” Stanford Coach John Dunning said. “They were very impressive to watch.”

Nnamani was brilliant, hitting .545 with 19 kills. Tom, also a leading player on the U.S. national team, had 16 kills but didn’t have the overwhelming impact she had in a semifinal victory over Hawaii.

Part of the reason was that the Cardinal struggled at the setting position. Junior Anna Robinson was replaced by freshman Katie Goldhahn in each of the final two games after Stanford couldn’t get into an offensive rhythm and fell behind in each.