No. 10 USC Men's Volleyball Drops Four-Set Decision to No. 7 Pepperdine

Saturday, March 11

Los Angeles, Calif.

7:00 PM

USC

8-9,1-5MPSF

Pepperdine

12-8,4-2MPSF

Pepperdine

Southern California

Photo by: John McGillen

No. 10 USC Men's Volleyball Drops Four-Set Decision to No. 7 Pepperdine

March 11, 2023 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

The Trojans got 18 kills from Simon Gallas and 17 from Dillon Klein in a loss to the Waves

LOS ANGELES – The 10th-ranked USC men's volleyball team (8-9, 1-5 MPSF) fell in four sets (27-25, 17-25, 25-23, 25-20) to No. 7 Pepperdine (12-8, 4-2) at Galen Center on Saturday, March 11.

KEY PLAYERS

Sr. OPP Simon Gallas led the Trojans with 18 kills (7e, 37att) with .297 hitting and had seven digs, four blocks, and a service ace to finish with 21.0 points.
Fr. OH Dillon Klein racked up 17 kills and had 21.0 points. He added five digs and four blocks with two service aces for his 14th match in double-digit kills and his 15th in double-digit points this season.
Jr. S Nate Tennant put up 38 assists to go with seven digs and set the Trojans to a .242 hitting rate.
Jr. MB Kyle Paulson posted six kills (1e, 9att) and hit .556 with three blocks, two digs, and had a service ace.
For the Waves, Jaylen Jasper led with 15 kills (6e, 35att, .257) and tacked up six digs and five blocks. Andersen Fuller posted 12 kills (1e, 16att, .688) and Bryce Dvorak put up 44 assists with eight digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

USC led most of the way in the first set and had set point twice before the Waves came crashing in for a 27-25 win. Klein had six of his kills in the first and Gallas had five to help the Trojans hit .385 in the opening frame.
The Trojans roared back to take the second set, 25-17, behind a .375 hitting rate with four kills from Gallas and three apiece from Klein and Paulson.
USC led by as many as three points several times in the third, but Pepperdine turned the tables to take the third and final lead change to run away with a 25-23 win despite five more kills from Gallas. Andersen had five of his kills in the third.
Pepperdine closed out the match with a 25-20 win in the fourth behind a .240 hitting percentage. The Trojans had 3.5 blocks and got five kills from Klein and four from Gallas.

UP NEXT

The Trojans return to action to face Long Beach State the weekend of March 24-25. The teams will meet at the Walter Pyramid on Friday (March 24) for a 7 p.m. PT match and then at Galen Center on Saturday (March 25).

MATCH NOTES

USC fell to 44-75 all-time against Pepperdine and have lost to the Waves in each of the last three meetings.
The Trojans dropped to 2-9 in matches against AVCA ranked opponents this spring.

For more information on the USC men's volleyball team and a complete schedule and results, please visit USCTrojans.com/MVB. Fans of the Trojans can follow @USCmensvolley on Twitter and Instagram.