Jack Wyett had a match-high 14 kills while hitting .684 to lead the No. 12-ranked USC men's volleyball team to a 25-19, 25-9, 25-21 sweep over Juniata on Thursday (Jan. 4) in the opening match of the 3-day Texaco Rainbow Warrior Classic in Honolulu, Hi.
It was USC's (2-0) first-ever meeting with Juniata (0-1), an NCAA Division III program.
Wyett and
Matt Douglas each had 5 digs, while
Gianluca Grasso added 8 kills and 2 aces,
Jon Rivera came off the bench to get 7 kills and
Sam Lewis had 3 blocks
For Juniata, Matt Vasinko and Quinn Peterson each had 6 kills, while Joe Fick added 5 kills, Chris Heron had 5 digs and Dave Hibner had 3 blocks.
USC hit .386 in the match to Juniata's .057. The Trojans served 8 aces.
USC went on a 7-0 run early in the opening set to go up 11-5 and maintained a lead the rest of the set while hitting .360. In the second set, the Trojans scored 10 quick unanswered points to build a 13-4 lead and were never threatened while hitting .474 and serving 4 aces. USC tallied 3 straight points to move out to a 20-16 lead in the third set and held off the Eagles while hitting .346.
USC next faces Stevens Institute, another NCAA Division III team and first-time USC opponent, on Friday (Jan. 5) at 4 p.m. PT before meeting host No. 5 Hawaii on Saturday (Jan. 6) at 7 p.m. HT.
