No. 12 USC Men's Volleyball Soars in Five-Set Thriller to Beat Concordia - USC Athletics (2024)

LOS ANGELES –The 12th-ranked USC men's volleyball team (10-4) completed a home-and-home sweep against Concordia University Irvine (5-3) in five sets (25-21, 25-12, 22-25, 23-25, 15-10) at Galen Center on Friday, Feb. 16.

KEY PLAYERS

• Fr. SCaleb Blanchetteput up his second double-double of the season with career highs in assists (55) and digs (13). He also had two blocks and a service ace.
• So. OHDillon Kleinreached double-digit kills for the 31st time in his careerand finished with 19.5 points on 18 kills (8e, 42att) with .238 hitting and added four digs and three blocks.
• Redshirt Jr. OPPJack Deucharrecorded17 kills (4e, 33att, hitting .394) and reached 20.5 points. He also had two service aces, three blocks, and three digs.
• Fr. MBWesley Smithput up 12 kills (0e, 14att, hitting .857) and recorded 14.0 points, two digs, and four blocks.
• So. OHRiley Hainehad nine kills (1e, 18att, hitting .444) and finished with four digs and five blocks (two solo).
• Sr. MBKyle Paulsonreached eight kills (2e, 12att, hitting .500) and recorded 14.0 points, eight blocks (two solo), four digs, and one service ace.
• Jr. LAustin Stuardreached double-digit digs for the fourth time and finished with 10 and two assists.
• For the Golden Eagles, Christian Galoppo had 17 kills, eight digs, one ace, and one solo block. Ties Cornelissen had 16 kills, nine digs, and four blocks (one solo). Gage Doble had 15 kills, one ace, and five digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Trojans battled the Golden Eagles to start the first set as the set saw nine tie scores and three lead changes. Klein led the Trojans forward with back-to-back kills, and Blanchette contributed an ace to take the Trojans up by three, 10-7. Haine increased the lead to four with a kill, but the Eagles forced a Trojan timeout with a 5-0 run (17-16). Paulson tied the score with a kill at 20-all, signaling the final lead change of the set in the Trojans favor. A Paulson ace and Haine solo block helped USC take the first set, 25-21. Deuchar had six kills, and the Trojans out-hit the Eagles .364 to .091.
• USC led the whole way in the second set, and out-hit CUI, .542 to -.040, and out-dug the Eagles, 11-8. The Trojans went on a 6-0 run with back-to-back blocks from Paulson and a Klein kill (12-4). USC led by 12 many times before closing out a 13-point win (25-12). Deuchar and Smith each recorded four kills, and Haine had two blocks.
• CUI turned it around in the third set, opening with a 4-0 run. Klein and Deuchar each recorded big kills to help the Trojans stay within reach, but the Eagles flew ahead with kills from Doble and Galoppo (17-12). USC managed to force a CUI timeout with a kill from Klein (18-15). Out of the timeout, Deuchar recorded an ace and a kill to bring the Trojans within two (22-20). The Eagles never gave up their lead and claimed the third set, 25-22. CUI out-hit USC .455 to .387 and out-blocked USC 4.5-1.0. Klein had seven kills, Stuard had five digs, Deuchar had four kills, and Smith had three kills. For the Eagles, Galoppo had six kills, and Jacob Reilly and Clement Osahon Jr. had three blocks each.
• The fourth set saw 11 ties and three lead changes, and neither team led by more than two points. The Trojans stayed toe-to-toe with the Eagles throughout and fought off a CUI set point with a kill by Smith, but the Eagles forced a fifth set with a final kill by Doble (25-23). CUI out-hit USC, .469 to .303. Haine and Smith each had four kills, and Klein had three kills. Doble led set scoring with six kills.
• Only USC held the lead in set five, though the set saw five ties. Cornelissen for the Eagles recorded three of their first four points with three kills, but Paulson had two back-to-back kills and a block to take the Trojans up by three (9-6). The Trojans stretched the lead to four and forced a CUI timeout with a block from Paulson and Deuchar (12-8). Smith put the match away for the Trojans with a kill (15-10). The Trojans out-hit the Eagles .500 to .167, Paulson had three kills and three blocks, and Klein had two kills.

UP NEXT

• The Trojans will travel to Phoenix for two matches against No. 2 Grand Canyon (10-0) on Friday and Saturday (Feb. 23-24). USC-GCU will be broadcast on ESPN+ on Friday.

MATCH NOTES

• USC rose to 16-6 all-time against the Golden Eagles.
• The Trojans got their first win in four five-set matches this season.
• This is USC's ninth match with double-digit blocks and 12th contest that it has had the same or more blocks than its opponent.
• This is the 12th contest that the Trojans have out-hit their opponent.
• USC is 2-0 in conference play for the first time since 2015.

For more information on the USC men's volleyball team and a complete schedule and results, please visit USCTrojans.com/MVB. Fans of the Trojans can follow @USCmensvolley on Twitter and Instagram.