COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL: RALLY STUNS TROJANS.

Byline: Jill Painter Staff Writer

This isn't the same USC volleyball team, that much is certain. But this is still quite a good team.

It wasn't good enough, however, to close out this match, as third-ranked Washington rallied for a 22-30, 30-25, 20-30, 30-26, 18-16 win over second-ranked USC on Saturday at the Lyon Center.

USC was, however, good enough to serve for the match twice.

``We lost, they didn't win,'' USC coach Mick Haley said. ``I don't want to take anything away from their effort, but it was basically our errors. We should've won the fourth game going away.''

The Trojans lost to Illinois in a five-game match on Sept. 11 to end a 52-match win streak dating back to 2002. The Trojans are without four starters from last year's national championship team that went undefeated. USC has won the last two NCAA titles, but getting its third won't be an easy undertaking.

The Trojans (6-2) were up 2-1 and thrived behind senior blocker Emily Adams, who had a career-high 18 blocks. She also had 19 kills, and Alicia Robinson had 16.

There were 24 lead changes, and the match was won on an errant pass. Keao Burdine, who had 14 kills, tried to pass off a serve, but it went over the net, and Darla Myhre dinked it over for the victory.

USC had 21 errors, and Washington had 37. The teams tied with 80 kills, but USC dominated in blocks, 40-13.

``The difference between this and Illinois is that I feel Illinois really earned it,'' Adams said. ``This is particularly frustrating because I don't think (Washington) earned it. I feel we handed it to them. In the past, if we were behind five or six points, we still thought we could win this game. Now, whether it's a lack of experience or being comfortable, we don't do that. I know we're capable. Hopefully, I can re-learn that too.''

Jill Painter, [phone]

jill.painter(at)dailynews.com