Sweep means Sacramento bound!

Kaczor was named most valuable player for the regional with 42 kills in two matches. Against the Longhorns, she hit .310 (17-4-42) adding nine digs. Copenhagen, who was also named to the all-regional team, hit .448 (13-0-29) in the match. She recorded her sixth straight double-double and team-leading 14th of the season.

"I'm so proud of my seniors for doing such a great job of leading and for this team with eight freshmen and three sophomores to come out with a positive and fare like we did," said USC head coach Mick Haley. "We'll see how we fare next week in Sacramento."

Junior outside hitter Jessica Gysin (Los Gatos/St. Francis HS) had 15 kills for the Trojans and hit .379 (15-4-29). Sophomore setter Taylor Carico (Manhattan Beach/Mira Costa HS) had 41 assists, four kills, five digs and two block assists for USC.

"I just talked to Jess (Gysin) about it in the locker room, and it's awesome," said Copenhagen. "We haven't done it since our freshman year and Asia (Kaczor) wasn't there either but she was in the junior college national championship. It's just a great experience and one we want to share with our team. It was one of our goals since the start of the season and it's great to accomplish it but we're not done yet. We still have a trip to Sacramento."

Juliann Faucette led Texas with 16 kills and a .406 effort (16-3-32) while Lauren Paolini had 11 kills and hit .500 (11-1-20). Setter Michelle Moriarty had 44 assists with three kills and 10 digs while Ashley Engle had 12 kills with eight digs.

USC (29-4) outhit Texas (27-4) by a .373 to .273 margin in the match. The Trojans saved their best for last by hitting .514 in game three, posting 20 kills and recording just one error. USC outblocked Texas, 8 to 4, and the Longhorns had nine service errors in the match without recording a service ace.

Faucette started the match with a sideout kill for the Longhorns, but Gysin answered with two straight kills. USC took advantage of a couple of overpasses and took the 6-3 lead. With USC ahead, 8-6, both teams traded sideouts until Kaczor and Copenhagen went back-to-back for a 13-9 margin. Engle hit one off the block for a Longhorn point, but Kaczor and Copenhagen did it again as the Trojans for a 15-10 score at the media timeout. The Trojans worked it to an 18-12 lead, but Moriarty lofted a kill in the back corner to start a run for the Longhorns. Texas scored three straight before Gysin stopped the run with a roll shot. Kaczor and freshman Zoe Garrett stuffed an attempt from Hooker to put USC ahead by five at 20-15. Engle and McGee combined on a block with McGee later adding a kill for a 21-18 score for the Trojans. Kaczor started a four-point run for USC and pushed the lead to 25-18. The Longhorns scored three straight again, but another service error ended the run. Copenhagen and senior middle blocker Bethany Johansen recorded the block and after kills from Paolini and Alexandra Lewis, the Trojans played sideout until Gysin gave USC a 1-0 lead in the match from the left side.

Gysin started game two with a kill, followed by a solo block in the middle from Johansen. Texas scored the next three points, but USC answered with four of its own and a 6-3 lead as the Longhorns called a timeout. Engle recorded another kill before USC reeled off a 7-1 run. Kaczor served an ace on the right side and later added a backrow kill. Carico and Garrett delivered a block, Garrett hammered an overpass and two straight Longhorn errors put USC ahead, 13-5. With Texas calling its final timeout of the game, the Longhorns cut into the Trojans' lead with a 4-1 run out of the break. USC was unable to get two points in a row as Texas chipped away and got to within three at 21-18. A series of sideouts changed when Copenhagen made it 25-20 with another kill. Engle put down another one for the Longhorns, but a Texas attack error and ace by USC libero Alli Hillgren as the Trojans forged the 2-0 match lead.

Faucette had two kills early in game three to put the Longhorns ahead, 6-5. Two kills from Gysin and a "310" kill by Carico was part of a streak of four as USC took the lead at 9-6. Both teams recorded sideouts with Paolini putting down two jackhammer kills for the Longhorns, but it was Copenhagen winning a joust with Moriarty to keep the Trojans ahead by a 13-9 score. Down 17-13, the Longhorns scored three straight with Paolini going crosscourt to cut the deficit to one. Gysin and Copenhagen went back-to-back as the Trojans led, 20-17. Hooker hit one from the left side, but the Trojans blocked two straight for a four-point margin at 22-18. Sophomore Chelsea Wilson served an ace for the Trojans, but Faucette and Engle kept the Longhorns close with a 25-23 score in favor of USC. After two sideouts, Gysin went back-to-back again for a 28-24 lead. Two more sideouts for Texas with Paolini putting both down made it 29-26 and at match point, Kaczor gave the Trojans their trip to the national semifinals with her final kill of the afternoon.

USC will play the winner of tonight's Stanford/UCLA match in a national semifinal on Thursday (Dec. 13) with BYU or Penn State and California or Nebraska filling out the remainder of the bracket. Trojan fans are invited to go online at sacsports.com or call (916) 649-TIXS for ticket information for the 2007 NCAA Women's Volleyball Championships at the Arco Arena in Sacramento.

Notes: With 17 kills, Asia Kaczor now has 629 kills on the season, which places her eighth on the Pac-10 all-time single-season list...USC has won nine straight matches since a 3-1 loss at Oregon on Nov. 8...USC's .373 hitting performance was the third-best of the season (.411 against Purdue on Sept. 15 and .379 against Mercer on Sept. 1)...Saturday's match was the first time this season that a USC opponent has not recorded a service ace against the Trojans...USC head coach Mick Haley earned a victory in his first match against his former team after leading the Longhorns to national titles in 1981 and 1988 before taking the head coaching position with the U.S. National Team (1997-2000)...during his tenure, he was named head coach at USC for then-interim head coach Jerritt Elliott (1999 and 2000), the current head coach at Texas...Taylor Carico is the first USC setter to record over 1,500 assists in a season and now has 1,540, as she set the school record in last night's match against St. John's...USC is now 3-1 all-time in postseason play in Gainesville...USC is 20-0 this season when the Trojans win the first game.

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