USC
Concordia University (California)
Players Mentioned
USC Men's Volleyball Opens 2019 Season--Its 50th--At Rainbow Warrior Classic
January 08, 2019 | Men's Volleyball, Features
THE FACTSÂ
The USC men's volleyball team (0-0 overall, 0-0 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) opens its 50th season of play when the 2019 Trojans travel to Honolulu for a trio of matches in the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Warrior Classic. USC first meets Concordia (0-3, 0-0 MPSF) on Thursday (Jan. 10) at 4 p.m. HT, then plays New Jersey Institute of Technology (0-2, 0-0 Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association) on Friday (Jan. 11) at 4 p.m. HT and finally faces host No. 4 Hawaii (0-0, 0-0 Big West) on Saturday (Jan. 12) at 7:30 p.m. HT. All matches are in Honolulu's Stan Sheriff Center.Â
FOLLOW THE TROJANSÂ
All of USC's home matches are video- and audio-streamed live for free on USCTrojans.com and the TuneIn Radio app, except for matches televised live on Pac-12 Network (those matches only are audio-streamed). USC's online announcers are ex-Trojan player and assistant coach Mark Beltran and onetime Northeastern player/Winthrop assistant coach Paul Duchesne. Fans also can follow USC home matches through Live Stats at USCTrojans.com and all matches via Twitter (@USCmensvolley).Â
RANKINGSÂ
USC is not ranked in the current AVCA Division I-II Top 15 poll. Concordia and NJIT are not ranked, while Hawaii is No. 4.Â
OPPONENTSÂ
USC leads in its series with Concordia, 5-2, but dropped the past 2 meetings (both MPSF matches in 2018). The Trojans are 2-0 versus New Jersey Institute of Technology, with wins in 2006 and 2009. NJIT faces Hawaii on Jan. 10 before playing Troy. USC trails its series against Hawaii, 44-39, and has lost the past 3 meetings, including most recently in last year's Rainbow Warrior Classic. Hawaii meets NJIT on Jan. 10 and Concordia on Jan. 11 before playing USC.Â
50TH SEASONÂ
The 2019 season is the 50th of USC men's volleyball. Since 1970, the Trojan program has been among the finest in college: winning 4 NCAA championships, playing in 14 NCAA Final Fours and producing 20 Olympians, 34 All-American first teamers and 7 College Players of the Year.Â
LAST WEEKÂ
Jack Wyett had 16 kills while hitting .560 and Ryan Moss added 12 kills and 4 blocks to lead USC to a 25-20, 25-20, 21-25, 25-21 home win over Alberta, Canada's No. 3-ranked team, in an exhibition match on Jan. 4 in USC's Galen Center Pavilion. Wyett had 5 digs and Moss hit .417, while Gianluca Grasso added 8 kills and 5 digs and Chris Hall had 6 digs. USC hit .323 to Alberta's .221. The Trojans had 8.5 blocks to the Golden Bears' 6.0.
