University Southern California Trojans
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No. 5 USC Men's Volleyball Team Earns At-Large Bid Into NCAA Championship
April 21, 2019 | Men's Volleyball, Features
The No. 5-ranked USC men's volleyball team earned an at-large bid into the 2019 NCAA Championship. The Trojans will begin play in the 7-team tournament in an opening round match against Lewis on April 30 at The Walter Pyramid in Long Beach at 5 p.m. PT.
USC will be making its 15th NCAA appearance, but its first since 2012. The Trojans have won 4 NCAA titles, the last coming in 1990.
Joining USC (18-10) and Lewis (25-5) in the NCAA Championship are Hawaii (27-2), Long Beach State (26-2), Pepperdine (22-6), Barton (25-4) and Princeton (16-12). Hawaii earned an automatic NCAA bid as champion of the Big West, as did the champs from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (Pepperdine), Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (Lewis), Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (Princeton) and Conference Carolinas (Barton). Long Beach State, the defending NCAA champion, joined USC as an at-large qualifier.
Barton will host Princeton in an NCAA Championship opening round match on April 25. The winner of that match will advance to The Pyramid, where the rest of the tourney will be held, and will play Pepperdine at 7:30 p.m. PT on April 30 in an opening round match following the USC-Lewis contest. The USC-Lewis winner will face top-seed Hawaii in a semifinal on May 2 at 5 p.m. PT, with the other semifinal featuring host and second-seed Long Beach State set for 7:30 p.m. PT (both semis will be streamed live on NCAA.com). The championship match will be on May 4 at 5 p.m. PT on ESPN2.
USC has a 5-3 all-time record versus Lewis. The teams last met in 2018 at Lewis, a 3-set sweep by the Flyers that included a 42-40 first set win. The team have faced off once in NCAA play, with the Trojans winning in 4 sets in the 2012 semifinals at USC.
USC has won 11 of its last 14 matches this season. The Trojans finished third in MPSF regular season play and advanced to the championship match of the MPSF Tournament, where it fell at No. 4-ranked Pepperdine on Saturday (April 20), 3-0.
USC, which has put together an impressive turnaround season after going 8-20 in 2018, has defeated 7 teams that were ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association national Top 10 at the time, including giving top-ranked Long Beach State its first loss in 24 matches and its only defeat in 2019 until the 49ers fell at Hawaii in the Big West tourney final on Saturday (April 21).
USC is led by a pair of All-MPSF first teamers in outside hitter Jack Wyett and opposite hitter Ryan Moss, along with All-MPSF second team outside hitter Gianluca Grasso, all seniors. Other key contributors are setter Chris Hall, who made the MPSF All-Tournament team, middle blockers Sam Lewis and Kyle Gear and libero Matt Douglas.
Fourth-year Trojan head coach Jeff Nygaard won a pair of NCAA titles (1993 and 1995) as a player at UCLA and was runner-up in 1994. He twice was named the MVP of the NCAA All-Tournament team.
"Our team has worked hard this season and has had many outstanding wins," said Nygaard. "It is validating to be able to continue our journey by being selected to play in the NCAA Championship. Congratulations to the other teams who made the tournament, it is an exceptional field of competitors. We have played particularly well lately and we are peaking when it matters most. I believe we have our best volleyball ahead of us."
