Sports
UCLA Volleyball Looks to Spike USC
The Bruins travel to Galen Center for the first of two meetings Friday.
No matter what the sport, whenever USC plays UCLA there is always something extra at stake... city bragging rights.
Friday night will be no exception when the rival women's volleyball teams meet for the first time this season at USC's Galen Center.
The eighth-ranked Bruins are paced by 6-3 outside hitter Rachael Kidder, who has 92 kills in her six matches played. Fellow junior Tabi Love is second on the team with 59 kills, senior libero/defensive specialist Lainey Gera has a team-best 111 digs and sophomore middle blocker Mariana Aquino leads the squad with 32 blocks.
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The ninth-ranked Trojans are being powered by 6-3 senior outside hitter Alex Jupiter, who has 112 kills and 58 digs in seven matches. Libero Natalie Hagglund, a sophomore, has a team-leading 115 digs and freshman middle blocker Hannah Schraer has 18 blocks.
An interesting sidelight to Friday's match is that it pits two former Marymount High teammates against each other--Jenna Scilacci of UCLA and Sam Hirschmann of USC.
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Scilacci, a sophomore middle blocker for the Bruins, and Hirschmann, a sophomore outside hitter for the Trojans, were both three varsity players at Marymount, the all-girls Catholic school right across the street from UCLA's campus.
UCLA (6-1) will be trying to rebound from Wednesday's five-set loss at Pepperdine while USC (5-2) has won four straight matches, all of them sweeps. Friday's Pac-12 Conference opener is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. and will be tape delayed on Fox Sports Net.
UCLA leads the all-time series 56-51 and has a 20-19 edge at USC.