No. 15 USC Men's Volleyball Set For Two With No. 7 UC Irvine

LOS ANGELES – The 15th-ranked USC men's volleyball team (7-3) will play its final two non-conference matches before the start of MPSF play when the Trojans take on seventh-ranked UC Irvine (5-3) in a home-and-home series this week. USC visits Bren Events Center on Wednesday (Feb. 7) for a midweek clash and then welcomes the Anteaters to Galen Center on Saturday (Feb. 10) for the rematch. Both matches are set for 7 p.m. PT starts. On the road, USC-UCI will be shown live on an ESPN+ stream; and the Trojans' home contest will be shown on the USC Live Stream platform with links available at USCTrojans.com.

FOLLOW THE TROJANS: Home matches at Galen Center are streamed live for free, with links available at USCTrojans.com, except for matches televised by Pac-12 Networks. Follow USC matches on live stats with links at USCTrojans.com.

THIS WEEK
No. 15 USC (7-3, 0-0 MPSF) vs. No. 7 UC Irvine (5-3, 0-0 Big West)

MATCH #11 • Wednesday, Feb. 7 • 7 p.m. PT
Bren Events Center • Irvine, Calif.
LIVE STREAM: ESPN+ (Robert Espero & Charlie Brande)

MATCH #12 • Saturday, Feb. 10 • 7 p.m. PT
Galen Center • Los Angeles, Calif.
LIVE STREAM: USC Stream (Jack Smith)

SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 42-35 (.545)
LAST MEETING: L 3-2 (Jan. 18, 2023 • Irvine, Calif.)
STREAK: Lost 1 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 4-6
OPPONENT WEBSITE: UCIrvineSports.com

FIRST SERVE (TL;DR)

USC is led by ninth-year head coach Jeff Nygaard, a three-time Olympian in indoor and beach volleyball and a two-time NCAA champion.
The Trojans are ranked 15th in the AVCA/NVA Coaches Poll. This year's poll is expanded to include 20 teams for the first time.
USC has reached double-digit blocks in six matches this season and has had more blocks than its opponent in nine of 10 contests.
The Trojans have out-hit their opponent in eight matches. USC's .355 hitting percentage ranks third in the MPSF and sixth in the NCAA.
Each of USC's three losses this season have been in five-set matches.
Freshmen Wesley Smith (MB), Jakobi Lange (OH), Jack Ebertin (OH), Brad Pan (LIB), and transfer Josh Friedman (S) were rated the No. 1 recruiting class by VolleyballMag.com. Smith was the No. 1-ranked individual player.
Fr. S Caleb Blanchette signed to be a part of the Trojans' 2025 freshman class in November, but completed high school requirements and reclassified to join USC's 2024 class in time to compete in the spring.
Sr. MB Kyle Paulson ranks second in the MPSF for blocks (1.22 bps) and ranks seventh in the NCAA, nationally.
Jeff Nygaard--a 2020 inductee to the Southern California Indoor Volleyball Hall of Fame--will also be inducted into the USAV Hall of Fame in 2024.

LAST TIME OUT: USC split matches with Big West foe UC San Diego last week. The Trojans went on the road and went the distance with a 19th-ranked Triton squad but fell, 15-13, in the fifth set of a back-and-forth contest. Dillon Klein led the team with 15 kills and Riley Haine returned to action after a four-match absence to log 7.0 points in the loss. In the rematch at Galen Center, Klein racked up another 11 kills and Haine put up nine kills in a 12-point performance to help the Trojans sweep the Tritons. Wesley Smith had nine kills and three blocks in the first meeting and put up six kills and six blocks in the rematch. USC had 12.0 blocks in the match for the team's sixth time in double-digit blocks this season. It was also the ninth time in 10 matches that USC has posted more blocks than its opponent.

HAPPY HOME PARADISE: USC opened the season with four straight matches at home. The Trojans hosted HBCUs Fort Valley State and Morehouse College and then welcomed Harvard and Lincoln Memorial. In all, USC plays 15 of its 26 regular season matches at Galen Center and hosts both the SIAC Tournament to open the spring and the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge in March. The Trojans' home arena will also serve as host to the 2024 MPSF Tournament, April 17-20.

POLL POSITION: The Trojans were ranked No. 12 in the AVCA/NVA Preseason Coaches Poll. 2024 marks the expansion of the poll to 20 teams (previously 15). USC is currently ranked No. 15 in the Feb. 5 poll.

BIG BLOCK ENERGY: The Trojans' 2.72 blocks per set ranks second in the MPSF and is fifth in the nation. USC has produced six matches in double-digit blocks and set a season-high mark with 15.5 blocks against No. 4 Ohio State on Jan. 20. During a four-match stretch from Jan. 11-19, USC progressively finished with a higher block total; and had 12.5 against Harvard (Jan. 11), 13.0 against Lincoln Memorial (Jan. 13); and then put up 15.0 against Ball State (Jan. 19) before the 15.5 against the Buckeyes. In all, USC has out-blocked its opponent in nine of 10 matches this spring.

GREATEST HITS: USC has hit better than its opponent in eight of 10 contests. In fact, USC has hit better than .300 in each of those eight contests and had a season-high .614 hitting percentage in a win over Morehouse College (Jan. 6).

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Caleb Blanchette

Jack Ebertin

Josh Friedman

Riley Haine

Dillon Klein

Jakobi Lange

Brad Pan

Kyle Paulson

Wesley Smith