USC is heading back to the Midwest with a pair of Big Ten road matches, starting Thursday at Iowa before a Saturday showdown with No. 1 Nebraska.
The Trojans, 8-10 overall and 2-6 in conference play, face the Hawkeyes at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa, at 6 p.m. CT (4 p.m.
PT) on Big Ten Plus. USC then moves on to Lincoln, Neb., for a late-night date with the unbeaten Huskers at Devaney Center on Saturday at 8 p.m.
CT (6 p.m. PT).
That match will air on Big Ten Network.
USC enters the week under fourth-year associate head coach Megan Moenoa, who was named the Trojans’ interim head coach on Oct. 5, 2026.
The Nebraska match also counts in the Big Ten Discover Volleyball Challenge, the conference’s in-season competition that runs from Oct. 3 through Nov. 1.
Weekend league matches are included in the standings, and USC is 1-2 so far in the challenge. Nebraska won the inaugural title last season after tiebreakers were applied.
The Trojans will also get another crack at the nation’s top-ranked team. This will be USC’s 34th match against a No. 1 opponent, and the program owns eight wins in those meetings, including a victory over top-ranked Nebraska on Dec. 11, 2004, in Louisville, Ky. USC is 8-25 all-time against No. 1 teams.
The numbers that have carried USC this season are mostly up front. The Trojans rank second in the Big Ten with 2.86 blocks per set, good for 11th nationally, and they’ve posted double-digit blocks in nine matches.
Junior middle blocker Mia Tvrdy is fourth in the league at 1.32 blocks per set, while redshirt junior middle blocker Leah Ford is right behind her at 1.30. USC finished 2025 as the conference leader at 2.76 blocks per set.
Offensively, sophomore opposite Abigail Mullen leads the team with 3.73 points per set, and redshirt junior outside hitter London Wijay is next at 3.47.
USC is coming off a tough homestand that produced back-to-back losses at Galen Center. The Trojans dropped a five-setter to Ohio State and then fell in three to 15th-ranked Penn State.
Against the Buckeyes, Milly McGee turned in her first career double-double with 37 assists and 11 digs, while Wijay finished with a season-high 20 kills and Taylor Deckert added a season-best 20 digs. USC also piled up 14.0 blocks in that match.
Against Penn State, Wijay delivered 11 kills and 11 digs for the 19th double-double of her career.
Thursday’s trip to Iowa brings a familiar opponent. USC leads the series 2-0 and won the last meeting 3-1 on Oct. 17, 2025, in Iowa City. The Trojans have won their last two against the Hawkeyes and are 2-0 in the last 10 matchups.
Saturday’s meeting with Nebraska is a much more rugged storyline in the series. USC still holds a 5-4 edge overall, but the Trojans have lost the last three meetings, including a 3-0 defeat in their most recent matchup on Nov. 16, 2025, at Galen Center.
Geography has also been friendly to USC in spots. The Trojans are 5-2 in Iowa, though this will be their first match in Coralville.
They are 7-8 in Nebraska overall and 4-1 in Lincoln. USC has played 15 matches in the Cornhusker State, and four current or former Trojans have come from Nebraska, including DS/LIB Paisley Douglas of Omaha and Mia Tvrdy of La Vista.
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