No. 12 USC Men's Volleyball Downs Fort Valley State in 3-0 Season Opener

Friday, January 5

Los Angeles, Calif.

10:00 AM

USC

1-0,0-0MPSF

Fort Valley State

0-3,0-0SIAC

Fort Valley St.

Southern California

Photo by: Drake Lee

No. 12 USC Men's Volleyball Downs Fort Valley State in 3-0 Season Opener

January 05, 2024 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

The Trojans were led by OH Jack Deuchar’s 10 kills in a win over the Wildcats

LOS ANGELES – The 12th-ranked USC men's volleyball team (1-0) swept Fort Valley State (0-3) in three sets (25-12, 25-17, 25-12) at the Galen Center Pavilion to open the season on Friday, Jan. 5.

KEY PLAYERS

Redshirt Jr. OPP Jack Deuchar led with a career-high 11 kills (2e, 17att) on .529 hitting and had five digs and an ace.
So. OH Dillon Klein tallied seven kills (1e, 10att) with .600 hitting and added a dig.
Redshirt Fr. OH Riley Haine posted six kills (0e, 9att, .667) in his debut and added four digs, three blocks, and an ace.
Fr. MB Wes Smith put up six kills (1e, 9att, .556) and led the Trojans with four blocks to go with five digs.
Sr. MB Kyle Paulson posted a career-high four service aces to go with five kills (0e, 9att) to hit .556 and had two blocks.
Jr. LIB Austin Stuard reached double digits for the first time in his career and finished with 10 digs.
For the Wildcats, Jaxon Hicks had nine kills to lead his team while De'vonte Payton had five. Hicks also led with five digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Trojans hit .550 to outpace the Wildcats' .077 and had more kills (39-23), digs (30-12), aces (6-0), and blocks (7.5-1).
USC never trailed in the opening frame and finished off a 25-12 result behind five kills from Deuchar and four from Klein. The Trojans had two of their aces in the first set and hit .632 to grab the early 1-0 lead.
The Wildcats put up an early fight in set two, but USC rolled away with a 25-17 win to go on top, 2-0. Paulson had three of his aces in the second set and Deuchar added three more kills to pace the USC offense.
USC held Fort Valley State to .000 hitting in the third set and closed the sweep with another 25-12 win. The Trojans hit .565 and got three kills apiece from Deuchar, Haine, and redshirt junior OH Jackson Reed.

UP NEXT

The Trojans host Morehouse College (0-1) for a second match in the SIAC Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 6. The teams meet at 10 a.m. PT in the Galen Center Pavilion. The match is closed to the general public but will be streamed live.

MATCH NOTES

USC goes to 1-0 in meetings with Fort Valley State.
The Trojans improved to 34-21 in season openers; 6-3 under ninth-year head coach Jeff Nygaard.

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.