USC
Pepperdine
Pepperdine Outlasts USC In Men's Volleyball
March 19, 2009 | Men's Volleyball
March 19, 2009
Watch the USC vs Pepperdine FULL GAME
Box ScorePaul Carroll had 31 kills and 18 digs to help the No. 3-ranked Pepperdine men's volleyball team outlast No. 4 USC, 30-28, 27-30, 30-25, 27-30, 15-10, in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match on Thursday (March 19) at USC's Galen Center.
The Waves improved to 14-2 overall and 12-2 in the MPSF, while the Trojans dropped to 13-6 overall and 9-5 in the MPSF.
Murphy Troy led USC with 29 kills while hitting .357 and he also had 9 digs and 3 blocks. Three other Trojans were in double kill figures: Austin Zahn had 17 kills (hitting .667) and added 4 blocks, while both Tony Ciarelli and Tri Bourne had 11 kills and 4 blocks. Luke Morris had 14 digs, while Ciarelli and Riley McKibbin got 8 digs and Hunter Current had 5 blocks.
Matt McKee contributed 19 kills (hitting .429) for the Waves and he added 10 digs and 4 blocks, while Rodnei Santos had 9 kills and 8 blocks.
In the match, both teams hit over .300 (Pepperdine was at .338, USC at .309), had at least 50 digs (56 for the Waves, 50 for the Trojans) and posted more than 10 blocks (USC's 11.5 to Pepperdine's 10.5).
USC got off to a slow start in the first set, falling behind 17-11, but the Trojans caught up at 27-27 before consecutive kills gave Pepperdine the edge in a set where both squads hit well (the Waves were at .444 and USC at .378). The second set see-sawed until USC ran off 4 straight points to open up a 25-21 margin and won out while hitting .406. The third set was tied at 22-22 when Pepperdine scored a pair of unanswered points and USC could never catch up. The Trojans led for most of the fourth set until the Waves forged a 23-22 lead, but USC fought back and went on a 3-point run to regain control at 27-24. Pepperdine got out to a quick 5-2 lead to start the final set and were never threatened while hitting at a .357 clip.
USC next hosts No. 5 Long Beach State on March 26 at 7 p.m. in the Galen Center.
