No. 11 USC Men's Volleyball Resumes MPSF Slate at No. 9 Pepperdine

LOS ANGELES – The 11th-ranked USC men's volleyball team (11-9, 2-4 MPSF) resumes MPSF play with a visit to Malibu this week to take on ninth-ranked Pepperdine (14-5, 2-3). The Trojans and the Waves meet for a 6 p.m. PT matchup on Thursday (March 14) at Firestone Fieldhouse and will be shown live on ESPN+. USC is currently tied for fourth in the MPSF standings with Stanford and BYU; both teams it will still face before the end of the regular season. Directly ahead of the Trojans is Pepperdine by a half match with a 2-3 mark in league contests. USC will get a second match with the Waves on March 30 at Galen Center. The matches are two weeks apart due to the schools' respective academic spring breaks.

MATCH #21 • Thursday, March 14 • 6 p.m. PT
No. 11 USC (11-9, 2-4 MPSF) at No. 9 Pepperdine (14-5, 2-3 MPSF)
Firestone Fieldhouse • Malibu, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: USC trails, 44-75 (.370)
LAST MEETING: L 3-1 (March 11, 2023 • Galen Center)
STREAK: Lost 3 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 1-9
LIVE STREAM: ESPN+
OPPONENT WEBSITE: PepperdineWaves.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. On March 6, in a win over Penn State, he recorded his 100th-career win.
The Trojans are ranked 11th 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 10 matches and has had more blocks than its opponent in 13 contests. The Trojans' 2.50 blocks per set ranks third in the MPSF and is sixth in the nation.
The Trojans have out-hit their opponent in 12 matches. USC's .310 hitting percentage ranks fourth in the MPSF and is 12th in the NCAA.
So. OH Dillon Klein has reached double-digit kills in 15 matches this season and has had 35 double-digit matches in his career. He has also registered five matches with 20 or more kills.
Klein and Fr. MB Wesley Smith were each named to the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge All-Tournament Team over the weekend.
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.
Four Trojans rank in the MPSF's top 15 for blocks led by Sr. MB Kyle Paulson who is third in the league (seventh in the NCAA) at 1.11 blocks per set.

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.

LAST TIME OUT: USC co-hosted the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge in the Galen Center Pavilion where the Trojans upended No 9 Penn State in a four-set match but fell to No. 8 Ohio State in four. OH Dillon Klein and MB Wesley Smith were each named to the eight-man all-tournament team. The Trojans' win over the Nittany Lions was the 100th-career victory for ninth-yeah head coach Jeff Nygaard. Klein led the team in scoring on both nights with 15.5 and 19.0 points respectively. He got help from OPP Jack Deuchar who poured in 14 kills against PSU and had 13 more against the Buckeyes.

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 hosted both the SIAC Tournament to open the spring and the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge in March. The Trojans' home arena also serves 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. 11 in the March 11 poll.

BIG BLOCK ENERGY: The Trojans' 2.50 blocks per set ranks third in the MPSF and is sixth in the nation. USC has produced 10 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 13 times this spring. In one other match (vs. UC Irvine, Feb. 10) the Trojans had the same block total as the Anteaters (13.0).

HIT 'EM HIGH: USC has hit better than its opponent in 12 contests. In fact, USC has hit better than .300 in 11 matches and had a season-high .614 hitting percentage in a win over Morehouse College (Jan. 6). The Trojans have also hit .400 or better six times and have recorded two matches over the .500 mark. USC's .310 hitting ranks fourth in the MPSF and is 12th nationally.

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Players Mentioned

Caleb Blanchette

Jack Deuchar

Jack Ebertin

Josh Friedman

Dillon Klein

Jakobi Lange

Brad Pan

Kyle Paulson

Wesley Smith