With expanded role, Texas transfer Fields helps USC change culture, fortunes

When outside hitter Skylar Fields decided to enter the transfer portal after three stellar seasons at Texas, she said she was looking for two primary qualities in her next stop: She wanted to play with a setter whom she knew was reliable, and she wanted to play for a coach who would allow her to expand her game.

She found both at USC, and the partnership has worked out well for both parties.

AS USC prepares for visits from the Oregons — No. 17 Oregon comes to the Galen Center and Oregon State is in Los Angeles on Sunay — Fields leads the Pac-12 in kills per set (4.89), seventh in the nation, and total kills (308) while hitting a formidable .311.

The 6-foot-2 product of Missouri City, Texas, also has 30 blocks, is averaging 1.75 digs per set and has 11 aces.

The Trojans (13-4 overall, 5-1 and tied with Washington and Stanford atop the Pac-12) are riding a four-match winning streak and are well on their way to a vast improvement on last season’s marks of 15-15, 10-10.

“We have a common goal in mind, and I think we understand that we’re the underdog right now,” said Fields, a three-time all-Big 12 first-team selection and 2021 VolleyballMag.com fourth-team All-American “We’re really trying to be there for one another and play for each other. I think that’s the biggest thing we’ve been doing. We’re going to announce who USC volleyball is.”

This week Fields was named the AVCA national player of the week. In USC’s victory at Arizona, she had 22 kills, hit .333 and had 13 digs and two blocks, one solo. Two days later at Arizona State, Fields had 27 more kills, hit .429, and had an ace, a solo block and 12 digs.

A new culture, battling through the pandemic

The trajectory of USC is decidedly on the upswing after two seasons of running in place.

Third-year coach Brad Keller was hired just days before the pandemic shut down the world in March 2020. He spent the better part of his first season seeing his players on Zoom before they were able to reconvene in person for what he called a “fake” season.

The Trojans went 7-8.

For the “real” 2021 season, without much depth returning, Keller was forced to piecemeal a roster using a lot of grad transfers who would see the program through the fall.

“It’s not like they were able to be together for very long,” he said. “It felt like they had a spring season and then fall was like, we threw them together at the last minute and all these different kinds of styles … It’s hard to get a team to jell when you’re teaching an old dog new tricks.”

That short-lived collection of players managed to finish .500. But Keller said the pedestrian record belied what that group was able to accomplish.

“What they don’t realize — and I always say this — in order to have a shift in culture and a shift in vision and direction, you’ve got to have the front line,” Keller said. “And the front line was them. The front line always gets bloody because they’re the first through the wall.

“Their job wasn’t to make the playoffs or win a title or do any of those things. Those kids were about the shift in dynamic, and I thought they did a great job with that.”

When the players got together in the spring to begin preparations for the 2022 season, only five were available: Three holdovers from the 2021 team and two transfers, including Fields. The good news was reinforcements were on the way in the form of a strong freshman class.

Without the ability to train six-on-six as a team normally would during the spring, the quintet of players and the coaching staff strategized. They talked extensively about what USC volleyball would look like going forward.

Establishing a culture was important, so when the freshmen arrived for training camp in August, they could be imbued with the new mindset.

“We really tried to lock down on what the culture was and who we were as a program so that when the freshmen and transfers came in, we were all on the same page,” Fields said. “The (freshman) class we have right now, this new generation has really bought into the culture. We have some really good team chemistry.”

But building that chemistry came at a cost. Keller said, early in the process, some tactical aspects of the game suffered while getting this hodgepodge of a group – seven freshmen, four transfers and only three returning players who had experience – to meld.

On top of that, Keller said, the group, collectively, was not sound with its passing and first contact. He and his staff spent “an obscene amount of time” trying to shore up the passing. Systems work and understanding the games within the game took a back seat.

That, Keller believes, cost the Trojans some matches early in the season. Three of their four losses, in fact, came in the first eight matches.

Finally, he said, the team is beginning to settle in, doing more and thinking less.

“I feel like this team has been drinking from a firehose as far as getting information,” Keller said. “So the more they can understand situational volleyball, the better off they will be getting their hands in the right spots over the net and the tendencies of the other team and where to dig the ball and who to set and which swing do you have, which swing don’t you have and how to prolong a rally until it gets in your favor until you can take the swing you need.”

Added Fields: “We were just trying to learn the system Brad was trying to put in place. We had girls coming from different colleges, freshmen coming in, people who already had an understanding of Brad’s coaching style. So it was kind of goofy at first seeing everyone play.

“Once we finally started getting on the same page, practices went a lot smoother.”

A perfect fit for the setter, too

Fields, of course, has been a big part of USC’s upswing. And landing her turned out to be pretty stress-free for Keller. After all, she played in the NCAA title match in the spring of 2021 and last fall was on a Texas team that was a win away from the national semifinals.

One of the Trojans’ holdovers from 2021 was sophomore setter Mia Tuaniga. As a freshman, she excelled, running the offense for that makeshift squad and averaging 8.30 assists per set.

But her best assist came in the offseason.

Tuaniga already had a relationship with Fields, having played with her in the USA Volleyball program. When Fields decided to enter the transfer portal, one of the first people she contacted was Tuaniga. She was that reliable setter Fields was looking for, so Fields wanted to find out about her experience at USC.

And, as it turned out, USC checked the other box on Fields’ list. Through her time at Texas, she primarily had been a three-rotation player, getting subbed out in the back row. Last season for Texas, Fields was second on the team with 353 kills (3.57/set) and hit .331. This year she also has 11 aces, 11 more than she had last season as a Longhorn. Fields has aspirations of playing on the U.S. national team and wanted to go somewhere that would allow her to develop in all six rotations.

Keller was willing to give her that chance.

“I talked to some other schools for sure, but USC, I was more interested in them,” Fields said. “Not only because of Mia but because of the coaching staff there, just their resume. Brad especially, coaching on the national team, on the men’s side and the women’s side, too.

“He has a lot of knowledge about the game. He knows a lot of the international ways that they play, and that’s what I want to take my next level to, potentially playing overseas. I knew he would be great to train underneath for those skills.”

Fields called her assimilation into the back row “a slow grind.” What has helped, she said, has been the coaching staff’s urging to just go after it, to be aggressive, to not be afraid to make a mistake.

Her biggest concerns were being able to dig the ball then transition to hit from the back row. Keller said he has been impressed with Fields’ progress, noting her improvement in digging the ball as well as serving.

He also is working with her on her landing. Fields has tended to land on one foot, so the USC staff is making a concerted effort to make her finish on both feet to lessen the impact on her body.

But what has impressed the coach the most is Fields’ personality. He said she came across initially as quiet and difficult to approach. As he got to know her, her big personality began to show.

“The surprise is how massively huge of a kid she is, how empowering she is to people around her,” he said. “How caring and empathetic she is. How she’s a natural in the spotlight. When the lights turn on, she gravitates toward that.”

USC is on the upswing

Fields is not alone in her fearless approach to the game. Two freshmen also have given USC a lift.

Outside hitter Jordan Wilson ranks third on the team in kills (152). Freshman libero Gala Trubint averages 4.10 digs per set, third in the conference, and was the Pac-12’s most recent defensive player of the week selection.

Opposite hitter Adonia Faumuina, another freshman, has been battling injuries through the first part of the season, but she is expected back soon and could have a big impact.

“I’m really excited to see what she can do,” Fields said. “She’s been so great in the gym, not only with what she brings to the court but her personality. She’s just a great overall person.”

Two other transfers also are playing important roles. Kalyah Williams, who spent her first four seasons at Washington State, is tied for the team lead at 1.03 blocks per set. Lindsey Miller, a junior middle blocker who spent her first two seasons piling up accolades at Notre Dame, also is averaging 1.03 blocks per set.

Tuaniga has continued to progress, averaging 11.0 assists per set (second in the Pac-12) and 1.97 digs per set, second on the team. And Emilia Weske, a senior holdover from Germany, ranks second on the team in kills with 155.

Together, the Trojans have elevated their team hitting percentage 35 points from last season (.243 to the current .278), and they lead the conference in total aces with 119.

“This team has a lot of people who have a ‘dog’ mentality, I guess you could say,” Fields said. “They want to go after it. This team is young and hungry. I think a lot of teams, you have the talent, but, like the quote says, ‘hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.’

“I think that we have the talent, but we’re really starting to learn how to get down, get dirty and do the little things that will make us that one tiny percent better.”

The best part about this group is – to Keller’s relief – the majority of them will be together again next season. That includes Fields, who has a season of eligibility remaining.

While most players and coaches are loath to look ahead, Fields is excited about what the future holds for this group – both the rest of this season and into 2023.

She also is excited for her own future, one she hopes includes a spot on the U.S. national team.

“I hope so,” she said, with a laugh. “That’s one of the reasons I decided to make my move was to be a full-time volleyball player, a six-rotation player. Hopefully, that was the best thing I could have done for myself to put me in that position.

“If not, I’m still glad that I made this decision to come out here because I’m having a blast.”

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