No. 5 USC Men's Volleyball Hosts No. 15 Grand Canyon In MPSF Tourney Quarterfinal Match In North Gym

THE FACTS
The No. 5-ranked USC men's volleyball team (16-9 overall, 7-5 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) begins MPSF Tournament play by hosting a quarterfinal match against No. 15 Grand Canyon (13-15, 3-9) on Saturday (April 13) at 7 p.m. PT in the North Gym. The match, which will be streamed live on the MPSF channel, is being played in the North Gym because of a scheduling conflict in the Galen Center. The Trojans are seeded third in the MPSF tourney and GCU is sixth, with the winner advancing to an MPSF semifinal match on April 18 at Pepperdine. USC has won 9 of its past 11 matches, remains undefeated at home in 2019 (11-0), has its most wins in a season under head coach Jeff Nygaard and sports its highest national ranking since mid-2015. Nygaard is 12-0 in the North Gym as a USC assistant and head coach.

FOLLOW THE TROJANS
All MPSF Tournament matches will be broadcast on the MPSF channel (mpsports.org/watch) and through CBS Sports Interactive subscription service. 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).

RANKINGS
USC is ranked No. 5 in the current AVCA Division I-II Top 15 poll, its highest ranking since Week 6 of 2015 (when Troy was No. 3). Grand Canyon is ranked No. 15.

OPPONENTS
USC is 3-3 in its all-time series with Grand Canyon, including a 3-0 USC home sweep in early February and a 3-1 USC road loss in mid-March this season.

USC IN CONFERENCE/REGIONAL TOURNEYS
USC is 27-30 all-time in conference/regional playoffs, dating to 1971, including winning 7 playoff championships. In MPSF tourney play only, USC is 12-15 (the Trojans won the 2009 MPSF tourney crown). The Trojans have never met Grand Canyon in the MPSF Tournament.

NORTH GYM
USC's MPSF quarterfinal home match against Grand Canyon on April 13 will be played in the North Gym due to a scheduling conflict in the Galen Center. The quaint 500-seat North Gym (located in USC's Physical Education Building) was the original home of the Trojan men's team. Troy played there from the team's inception in 1970 through 1988, again from 1997 to 2002 and then split time between the North Gym and Lyon Center from 2003 to 2006 before taking up residence in the Galen Center in 2007. USC last played a match in the North Gym in 2017 (3-0 sweeps over Lewis and George Mason) because of a Galen Center scheduling conflict. USC head coach Jeff Nygaard, by the way, has never lost a match in USC's North Gym, as an assistant or head coach at USC (he is 12-0), including victories this season over No. 1 Long Beach State (3-0) and Concordia (3-1).

50TH SEASON
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.

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