No. 15 USC Men's Volleyball Falls to No. 7 UC Irvine in Tight Four-Setter

Wednesday, February 7

Irvine, Calif.

7:00 PM

USC

7-4,0-0MPSF

UC Irvine

6-3,0-0Big West

Southern California

UC Irvine

No. 15 USC Men's Volleyball Falls to No. 7 UC Irvine in Tight Four-Setter

February 07, 2024 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

Three Trojans recorded double-digit kills

IRVINE, Calif. – The 15th-ranked USC men's volleyball team (7-4) fell to seventh-ranked UC Irvine (6-3) in four sets (19-25, 25-22, 30-28, 27-25) at Bren Events Center on Wednesday, Feb. 7.

KEY PLAYERS

Redshirt Jr. OPP Jack Deuchar led the team with a career-high 21 kills (2e, 38att) with .500 hitting and had 23.0 points. Deuchar also had six digs, two blocks, and an ace.
So. OH Dillon Klein recorded his first-career double-double with 14 kills (3e, 25att, .440) and 14 digs. Klein reached double-digit kills for the 28th time in his career and also had four blocks.
So. OH Riley Haine collected 11 kills (6e, 21att) and hit .238. Haine also had three blocks and four digs.
Sr. MB Kyle Paulson recorded seven kills (2e, 13att) hitting .385 and totaling 10.0 points. Paulson also collected two aces, two blocks, and two digs.
Fr. MB Wesley Smith racked up six kills (2e, 10att, .400) with eight blocks and a dig.
Fr. S Caleb Blanchette put up 49 assists—with five digs, two blocks, and an ace.
For the Anteaters, Hilir Henno led all players with 29 kills and 29.5 points, and he had seven digs. Maxim Grigoriev had 17 kills, six digs, and three blocks. Brett Sheward had 56 assists, seven digs, and three blocks, and Connor Campbell had two aces and seven blocks.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Trojans took the first set, 25-19, led by Deuchar with seven kills and an ace, and out-hit the Anteaters .700 to .233. Both teams kept it close to start off the set, and USC saw its first lead at 6-5. The Trojans went up 9-7, but the Anteaters caught up with two kills from Hilir Henno to tie it back up at 9-9. Deuchar helped the Trojans regain their lead with a kill to go up 12-10. USC maintained its lead into the set with kills from Paulson and Smith, as well as an ace from Deuchar, and forced an Anteater timeout at 17-13. Out of the timeout, kills from Klein and Smith took the Trojans up 20-14, but back-to-back kills by UC Irvine lead the Trojans to call timeout (21-17). Out of the timeout, USC went on a 4-1 run to end the first set, with kills from Deuchar, Paulson, and Klein. Deuchar had seven kills and an ace, and Klein had four kills.
Set two was another tight set to start off, beginning with an exchange of service errors, but the Trojans found their footing with kills from Smith, Klein, and Haine to make it 7-7. Though Haine had a big kill to take the lead 10-9, the Anteaters went up 12-10 on two Trojan errors. Both teams went back-and-forth through the set, until back-to-back kills from Henno put UC Irvine up by three (14-17). Deuchar and Klein both contributed big kills, but UC Irvine blocked USC's back-row attack and forced a Trojan timeout (16-20). Paulson, Deuchar, and Haine had kills out of the timeout, bringing the Trojans back within reach (20-22). Noah Roberts entered the game and quickly recorded a block to bring USC within one (22-23). However, the Anteaters closed out the set, beating USC, 25-22, and tying the match at one set apiece. UC Irvine out-hit USC .433 to .267 in the second set. Haine and Klein had four kills each, and Deuchar and Smith had three kills each.
After its second set victory, UC Irvine came out strong in the third set, going up 5-1 with two big kills from Conner Dahm. USC struggled to start off the third set but stayed afloat with help from two Deuchar kills (4-8). A kill from Paulson kept the Trojans within reach (8-12), and a big solo-block from Haine brought USC within three (10-13). However, UC Irvine did not back down as Henno racked up another kill (13-17). USC converted two Anteater overpasses into kills with Paulson and Deuchar bringing the Trojans within two, forcing a UC Irvine timeout (17-19). After the timeout, Sheward got a kill for the Anteaters through the USC triple block, forcing a Trojan timeout (18-22). UC Irvine reached set-point after the timeout, but USC fought off six Anteater set-points with back-to-back blocks, a Deuchar kill, and a Paulson ace to tie it up (24-all). Smith gained the lead for USC with a kill to make it 25-24, but Henno answered back with a kill of his own to tie at 25-all. The Anteaters and Trojans tied three more times, but a UC Irvine ace gave them the set win (28-30). Despite the set-loss, USC out-hit UC Irvine .400 to .349 and out-blocked the Anteaters 5-2. Deuchar had six kills and Klein had four digs.
In a similar theme, the fourth started close with both teams going back-and-forth until Klein put the Trojans up by two with his 10th kill (9-7). Haine picked up another kill, bypassing the Anteater triple block and maintaining the Trojan lead (11-9). UC Irvine kept it close, tying it up at 14-all, and the Anteaters forced USC to take a timeout by taking the lead (17-19). Out of the timeout, Haine and Deuchar recorded kills to tie up the score at 19-all. The Trojans kept it close throughout the end of the set, tying with UC Irvine five more times, but the Anteaters came out on top with back-to-back kills (25-27). UC Irvine out-hit USC .600 to .414 in the fourth set.

UP NEXT

The Trojans host UC Irvine (6-3) on Saturday (Feb. 10). USC-UC Irvine will be streamed live on the USC live stream platform. Tickets for this match are available at USCTrojans.com/tickets.

MATCH NOTES

USC fell to 42-36 all-time against the Anteaters.
The Trojans played their fourth four-setter of the season.
This is USC's seventh match with double-digit blocks and 10th contest that is has had more blocks than its opponent.
This is the ninth contest that the Trojans have out-hit their opponent.

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.