USC
Pepperdine
USC Clinches Tourney Berth
April 03, 2001 | Men's Volleyball
April 3, 2001
LOS ANGELES - The No. 7-ranked USC men's volleyball team -- behind a match-high 18 kills by junior All-American opposite hitter Brook Billings and 16 kills by senior outside hitter Eli Fairfield -- clinched a berth in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament by beating No. 6 Pepperdine, 30-28, 30-21, 30-24, in an MPSF match on Tuesday (April 3) in the USC North Gym.
The Trojans improved to 12-7 overall and 10-6 in the MPSF, while Pepperdine fell to 14-7 and 9-7.? USC, which avenged a 5-game loss to the Waves 2 weeks earlier, snapped a 4-match losing streak to Pepperdine.
Billings hit .303 and added 4 blocks, 4 digs and 2 aces, while Fairfield hit .433 with 7 digs.? Teammate Trevor Julian, a senior outside hitter, hit .417 with 7 kills and a match-best 8 digs, while senior middle blocker Donny Killian had 4 blocks and a match-high 4 aces and sophomore middle blocker Josh Day hit .667 with 3 blocks.
For Pepperdine, senior outside hitter Scott Wong had a team-best 10 kills and sophomore middle blocker Brad Keenan hit .400 with 7 kills and 4 blocks.
USC outhit the Waves, .389 to .154, and had more blocks (9.0 to 5.0) and aces (10 to 5).
The first game was tied at 28-28 before USC scored the final 2 points.? Troy took a 6-1 lead in the second game and never looked back, outhitting the Waves .385 to .063.? In the third game, USC opened up a 21-16 lead before the Waves closed to 24-22, but the Trojans scored 6 of the final 8 points.
USC next hosts La Verne, the top-ranked team in NCAA Division III, on Saturday (April 7) at 7 p.m. in the North Gym, then closes MPSF play on April 11 at UC Santa Barbara.? First round action in the MPSF tournament begins on April 21 at sites to be determined.
