Volleyball Falls To USC - Rutgers University Athletics

Saturday, November 7

Piscataway, N.J.

1:00 PM

Rutgers

12-14,3-11Big Ten

USC

10-14,4-10Big Ten

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Southern California	25	25	25	3
Rutgers	23	16	13	0

Box Score (PDF)

Malia Romes on the attack vs. USC at Jersey Mike's Arena

Photo by: Prem Desai

Nov 07 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Photo Gallery

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – After back-to-back five-set victories, the Rutgers volleyball team was topped by USC, 3-0, on Saturday afternoon at Jersey Mike's Arena.

The Trojans defeated the Scarlet Knights, 25-23, 25-16, 25-13.

STANDOUT STATS

Malia Romes led RU with eight kills with Skylar George swinging for seven and Karis Willow and Avery Jesewitz contributing six each.
Romes and Willow also led at the net with two blocks each.
Lily Bolen put up 17 helpers along with seven digs and a block. Brooke Baldwin added eight assists and RU's lone ace.
Kenzie Dyrstad collected 11 digs.

KEY MOMENTS

SET 1 (23-25) | East Coast and West Coast opened the match with eight ties. One of four Malia Romes kills gave RU a 16-15 edge, however, USC came back with the next three points that would put them on top the rest of the way. The Scarlet Knights were within a point four times down the stretch. An ace from Brooke Baldwin saw RU trail 20-19, Karis Willow and Mira McCool teamed up at the net down 22-21 and a Skylar George swing had the Scarlet Knights trail 23-22. A Trojan attack error kept with RU behind 24-23, but Abigail Mullen put away set point for the 1-0 USC lead.

SET 2 (16-25) | Willow punched in one of her four kills of the frame to give the Scarlet Knights a 7-6 lead, but from there USC took the next three points to stay in front for good. A kill from Natalie Robinson had RU trail 12-10, but USC went on a 7-2 run to establish a 17-11 lead. Rutgers captured back-to-back points with Willow and Romes teaming up for a stop followed by a George kill to trail 19-14, but would get no closer.

SET 3 (13-25) | The Trojans never trailed in the final set and committed only two errors on the attack. USC kicked off the set with an 11-3 lead and held RU without back-to-back points until late in the frame. Romes added three kills to her stat line and Kenzie Dyrstad logged six of her 11 digs on the day.

UP NEXT

Rutgers volleyball closes out the home portion of its 2026 schedule with #7 Wisconsin on Thursday, Nov. 12 at Jersey Mike's Arena and with Maryland at the College Ave Gym on Friday, Nov. 13. Click here to purchase tickets for RU's match with the Badgers. Admission against the Terps at the College Ave Gym is free.
The regular season concludes on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at #11 Penn State.
The 15-team 2026 Big Ten Volleyball Tournament bracket will be unveiled on Tuesday, Nov. 17.

Follow Rutgers women's volleyball on Facebook, X and Instagram.

- RU -