USC Captures Wolverine Invitational Title

OREM, Utah — After battling to a four-set victory against host Utah Valley on Friday night, there was no drama for USC on Saturday as the Women of Troy picked up the Wolverine Invitational Title.

Challenged only briefly in the second set, USC cruised to a 25-16, 25-20, 25-15 victory to finish the three-team tournament at 3-0.

"These [tournaments] are harder than you know because it's all about staying focused and disciplined," said USC head coach Mick Haley. "I thought Utah Valley would come out a little better, but they have injuries like we do."

Outside Camie Manwill saw only limited time for the Wolverines, while the Trojan's Jessica Gysin sat for the second time of the tournament.

Again, for the Women of Troy, that provided an opportunity for other players to step up. This time it was right side Kimmee Roleder coming through big with a match-high 11 kills on .562 hitting.

USC also got plenty of help out of the middle, as Lauren Williams knocked down nine kills on .667 hitting and Zoe Garrett had seven while hitting .462.

Those three players combined had only four errors in 41 attempts and a cumulative 27 kills on .561 hitting. As a team, USC hit .329.

Across the net, Faith Tusieseina did most of the damage for Utah Valley, hitting .750 with nine kills on 12 swings. As a team, the Wolverines were held to .131 hitting overall and -.043 in the final set.

While Haley was still a bit disappointed in his team's blocking numbers — USC recorded only six after 12 the match before — he said the front line did a good job of controlling the net and dictating how Utah Valley attacked.

That resulted in a solid match for libero Alli Hillgren, who earned tournament MVP honors.

"Our libero was all-world today simply because the block did a good job of funneling the ball to her. She didn't get a lot of digs, but she got great digs and they were all right up to the setter where we had a chance to transition for a kill."

Hillgren said, "They make my job so much easier when they do their job and it worked out really well today. Everyone was really focused."

The senior finished the match with nine digs and was perfect on 11 serve receptions. She also added an ace with no errors on 12 service attempts.

"I thought that's the best our libero has played in a long time," Haley said. "I'm excited for her. Her passing was good, her serving was good and her defense was good."

Hillgren added to that, saying that after Friday's match and turning around for a back-to-back against the same team, the Trojans' focus was on their side of the net and the goals they had for themselves.

"I just wanted to play the role of being a stabilizer for everyone," Hillgren said "We had a couple of things we wanted to improve and first of those was passing. That was our goal today. That was my focus."

USC (9-1) has now won nine matches in a row, dropping only one set in that stretch. The Trojans are back home to face Portland and Fresno State next weekend.

Utah Valley (4-4) finished up the Wolverine Invitational against Idaho State on Saturday night, then hosts another Pac-10 team — Oregon — on Wednesday.

Story Extras