No. 12 USC Men's Volleyball Hosts No. 5 Grand Canyon to Open MPSF Play

LOS ANGELES – The 12th-ranked USC men's volleyball team (6-4) begins conference play against Mountain Pacific Sports Federation foe No. 5 Grand Canyon (11-0) with a pair of matches at Galen Center this week. The Trojans and the Lopes will take the court for a 7 p.m. PT match on Wednesday (Feb. 15) on Pac-12 Networks and then do it again on Friday (Feb. 17) at 7 p.m. on a live USC stream. The Trojans are 34-19 all-time in conference openers.

THIS WEEK
Galen Center • Los Angeles, Calif.
No. 10 USC (6-4) vs. No. 5 Grand Canyon (11-0)

MATCH #11 • Wednesday, February 15 • 7 p.m. PT
LIVE TV: Pac-12 Networks (Jim Watson)

MATCH #12 • Friday, February 17 • 7 p.m. PT
STREAM: USC Stream (Paul Duchesne & Cameron Green)

SERIES RECORD: USC trails, 6-8 (.429)
LAST MEETING: W 3-0 (Apr. 16, 2022 • Phoenix, Ariz.)
STREAK: Won 2 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 4-6
OPPONENT WEBSITE: GCULopes.com

FIRST SERVE (TL;DR)

USC is led by eighth-year head coach Jeff Nygaard, a three-time Olympian in indoor and beach volleyball and a two-time NCAA champion.
The Trojans are currently ranked 12th in the AVCA Div I-II Coaches Poll. USC is 1-4 against ranked opponents this season.
The Men of Troy are 34-19 all-time in conference openers and have won four of their last six league openers.
USC returns All-American OPP Simon Gallas who ranks 13th in the MPSF for points (3.04 pps) with 2.36 kills per set this spring.
This season, the Trojans added All-American OH Kevin Kobrine; a grad transfer from UCLA. He was an All-MPSF choice in 2022 and follows brother Sam Kobrine who also transferred after four years at UCLA in 2021.
USC MB Lucas Frassrand returns after an All-America honorable mention campaign as a junior. His .368 hitting percentage is eighth in the MPSF.
Jr. S Nate Tennant was chosen as the Off the Block National Setter of the Week (Jan. 16) after leading USC to back-to-back 3-0 wins.

LAST TIME OUT: The Trojans suffered a pair of four-set losses to No. 4 Penn State and No. 13 Ohio State in the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge in State College, Pa. Dillon Klein put up his seventh straight double-digit kills match and led USC with 20 against the Nittany Lions. Simon Gallas posted his first-career double-double with 14 kills and 11 digs against the Buckeyes. Jack Deuchar and Jackson Reed each set new career highs in kills and points in the two matches.

FOLLOW THE TROJANS: USC's home matches at Galen Center are live streamed for free on USCTrojans.com except for matches televised live by the Pac-12 Networks. Fans also can follow USC home matches through live stats with links available at USCTrojans.com.

HAPPY HOME PARADISE: After six matches away from home, the Trojans played on the Galen Center floor for the first time on Thursday, Jan. 19. USC defeated 12th-ranked UC Santa Barbara in five sets in front of a record-setting crowd of 1,508 fans in a home opener. Last season, USC went 13-1 at home.

POLL POSITION: The Trojans opened the season ranked 10th in the NVA/AVCA Coaches Poll. Following a 2-1 opening weekend, USC dropped one spot to 11th, but returned to the No. 10 spot on Jan. 16 and held that position for three straight weeks. The Trojans are 12th in the latest coaches' poll.

MOUNTAIN SPECIFIC: USC tied with Grand Canyon to finish in fourth place in a preseason Mountain Pacific Sports Federation coach's poll. Last season, the Trojans went 8-4 in league matches to finish second behind regular-season champion UCLA. The Men of Troy are 34-19 all-time in conference openers and have won four of their last six league openers.

DOUBLE-UP: Four Trojans have logged double-doubles this season. Nate Tennant (51 assists, 11 digs) recorded the first of the spring in a five-setter against UC Irvine on Jan. 18. A day later, Ryan Sprague (30 assists, 12 digs) and Kevin Kobrine (15 kills, 13 digs) both had double-doubles in a five-set win over UC Santa Barbara. Simon Gallas's 14-kill and 11-dog performance at Ohio State was his first-career double-double. Tennant and Sprague each also produced their first-career double-doubles. Kobrine had his first as a Trojan (fifth of his career).

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Players Mentioned

Jack Deuchar

Lucas Frassrand

Simon Gallas

Dillon Klein

Kevin Kobrine

Sam Kobrine

Jackson Reed

Ryan Sprague

Nate Tennant