University Southern California Trojans
USC Men’s Volleyball Hosts Fall Tourney On Saturday
October 31, 2019 | Men's Volleyball, Features
The USC men's volleyball team will host the pre-season 2019 USC Fall Tournament this Saturday (Nov. 2) in the Galen Center Pavilion.
The Trojans will be joined by Mountain Pacific Sports Federation opponents UCLA, Stanford, Pepperdine, Concordia and Grand Canyon, plus non-conference foes Long Beach State, Cal State Northridge, UC San Diego and Westcliff.
Admission is free. The Galen Center Pavilion is adjacent to the Galen Center, with the volleyball courts on the upstairs level.
Competition begins at 8:30 a.m. with the first 4 matches of the tourney and continues with matches at 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m., 2:30 p.m. and the final matches at 4 p.m.
USC will sport 2 teams, a Cardinal squad and a Gold team (UCLA, Pepperdine, Long Beach State, Cal State Northridge and UC San Diego also will have split squads). USC Cardinal faces Stanford at 10 a.m., Long Beach State Gold at 1 p.m. and UCLA Blue at 4 p.m. USC Gold plays Cal State Northridge Black at 8:30 a.m., UC San Diego Gold at 11:30 a.m. and Grand Canyon at 4 p.m.
The other matches at 8:30 a.m. are Pepperdine Blue vs. Westcliff, UCLA Blue vs. Long Beach State Gold and Long Beach State Black vs. UCLA Gold. At 10 a.m., it's Grand Canyon vs. UC San Diego Gold, UC San Diego Blue vs. Cal State Northridge Red and Pepperdine Orange vs. Concordia. Pepperdine Blue vs. Cal State Northridge Red, UCLA Blue vs. Stanford and Long Beach State Black vs. Concordia will play at 11:30 a.m. Then at 1 p.m., it's Grand Canyon vs. Cal State Northridge Black, UC San Diego Blue vs. Westcliff and Pepperdine Orange vs. UCLA Gold. Cal State Northridge Black vs. UC San Diego Gold, Westcliff vs. Cal State Northridge Red, Long Beach State Gold vs. Stanford and UCLA Gold vs. Concordia start at 2:30 p.m. In the 4 p.m. slot, it's Pepperdine Blue vs. UC San Diego Blue and Long Beach State Black vs. Pepperdine Orange.
All matches will be the best of 3 sets, with the first 2 sets played to 25 points and the third set to 15 points.
After Saturday's USC Fall Tournament, the Trojans continue their pre-season competition by playing at the UCLA SAC Tournament on Nov. 15 and 16. After hosting Canada's Douglas College in an exhibition on Dec. 30, USC begins regular season play by welcoming 2019 NCAA tourney participant Princeton on Jan. 2.
USC is coming off a successful 2019 season. The Trojans more than doubled their win total from 2018 by going 18-11 overall (their most wins since 2015) and finishing third in the MPSF at 7-5 (their highest league finish since 2012). Troy was the MPSF Tournament runnerup and, for the first time since 2012, qualified for the NCAAs. USC, playing the nation's toughest schedule, had 7 wins over teams ranked in the AVCA Top 10 at the time and won 11 of its last 15 matches. Its in-season No. 4 AVCA ranking was the program's highest since 2015 and its final No. 5 ranking was its best finish since 2012. Troy was undefeated at home (12-0) for the first time since 2000 and was 5-2 on neutral courts.
Top returning players for fifth-year head coach Jeff Nygaard are a trio of juniors: opposite hitter-middle blocker Kyle Gear, who led USC in hitting percentage last spring (.421), 2-year starting setter Chris Hall, an All-MPSF honorable mention choice in 2019 who made the MPSF All-Tournament team, and 6-10 middle blocker Sam Lewis, another 2-year starter whose 70 blocks in 2019 was a team high.
