Record: 27-4, Pac-10: 14-4 (4th)

National ranking: No. 5, Seed: No. 5

Head coach: Mick Haley

SCOUTING REPORT: FRESHMAN SETTER HAS HAD IMPACT FOR TROJANS

All-time NCAA tournament record: 52-20

Last week: USC swept Ole Miss and Brigham Young in its subregional. ...

Conference call: The Trojans finished fourth in the Pac-10. ... Hitter Asia Kaczor and libero Debora Seilhamer were named all-Pac-10, with Diane Copenhagen and Jessica Gysin — second and third on the team in kills — earning honorable mention. ... Taylor Carico, the conference and Pacific Region Freshman of the Year, set a school record for assists by a freshman. ...

International relations: All-region hitter Kaczor, a 6-4 junior off the Polish national team, led the Pac-10 in kills (4.96 per game), but what might worry UH more is that she was fourth in aces and hit .310. ... The 2005 NJCAA Player of the Year needs 13 kills to tie USC's single-season record (554). ... Seilhamer, a 5-5 senior who was a hitter growing up in Puerto Rico, needs 15 digs to tie Chrissie Zartman's Pac-10 career record of 2,064. ...

Expectations: "It was a special year in our conference because everybody is good," USC coach Mick Haley said. "Every night we really have to prepare and we've had some great matches. Each team we've played has had a freshman that's made a lot of impact. Taylor has had an impact, of course, on our team. But the great thing about being a freshman is what you don't know, you don't worry about." ...

Great company: Taylor Carico was the setter for Alix Klineman, this year's top recruit, at Mira Costa (Calif.) High School last year. Carico and Klineman were CIF co-Players of the Year in 2005, with Carico earning California's state MVP honor.