Jeff Nygaard Earns 100th Win as No. 12 USC Men's Volleyball Tops No. 9 Penn State

Wednesday, March 6

Los Angeles, Calif.

7:00 PM

USC

11-8,2-4MPSF

Penn State

13-5,4-0EIVA

Penn St.

Southern California

Photo by: Aaron Wilson

Jeff Nygaard Earns 100th Win as No. 12 USC Men's Volleyball Tops No. 9 Penn State

March 06, 2024 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

Three Trojans reached double-digit kills in a four-set win over the Nittany Lions in the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge

LOS ANGELES – The 12th-ranked USC men's volleyball team (11-8) collected a four-set win (25-22, 25-19, 15-25, 25-23) over No. 9 Penn State (12-5) in the first match of the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge at the Galen Center Pavilion on Wednesday, March 6. The win marks the 100th-career victory for ninth-year Trojan head coach Jeff Nygaard.

KEY PLAYERS

Redshirt Jr. OPP Jack Deuchar put up 14 kills for his 11th match in double digits and added two digs and a block.
Fr. setter Caleb Blanchette dished out 40 assists and guided the Trojans to a .238 hitting percentage to go with five digs and a team-high three service aces.
So. OH Riley Haine reached double digits for the seventh time and finished with 11 kills (2e, 21att) on .429 hitting while adding four digs and three blocks.
So. OH Dillon Klein collected 13 kills to notch double-digit kills for the 34th time in his career. He also had two blocks (one solo), nine digs, and a service ace to finish with a team-high 15.5 points.
Sr. MB Kyle Paulson recorded five kills with .375 hitting and had three blocks, three digs, and a service ace.
Fr. MB Wesley Smith also had five kills on .500 hitting to go with one block.
Jr. LIB Austin Stuard put up seven digs with three assists.
For the Nittany Lions, John Kerr led with 21 kills (6e, 37att, .405) and had two blocks and four digs. Toby Ezeonu finished with seven kills on .375 hitting with a match-high four service aces and had three blocks and three digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

USC had more kills (48-39) than the Lions and had the edge in digs, 30-23. Penn State hit .250 to outpace USC's .238 and finished with the advantage in blocks (6.0-5.5) and service aces (7-6).
The Trojans racked up 16 kills and hit .290 to edge the Lions' .280 and 10 kills to get a 25-22 win in the first set. USC led by as many as six points and got the bulk of its offense on five kills apiece from Klein and Deuchar. Blanchette put up 14 of his assists and had a pair of service aces in the opening frame to help the Trojans put away the win.
Klein, Deuchar, and Haine each registered five kills apiece and helped the Trojans hit .440 in the second set to complete a 25-19 win for a 2-0 lead. Blanchette posted 13 more assists and USC out-dug Penn State, 7-3, to help hold the Lions to a .143 hitting percentage.
Penn State took set three, 25-15. The Lions collected nine kills and hit .261 over the Trojans' negative .087 percentage. Deuchar had three kills, but USC's eight hitting errors kept them from building momentum in a set PSU ran away with.
The teams went back and forth through 12 ties in the fourth set, but the Trojans claimed the final of three lead changes to finish off a 25-23 win. Haine had four kills while Klein had two and led the Trojan defense with three digs. Blanchette collected his third service ace and the Trojans held off a late charge by the Lions to seal the victory.

UP NEXT

The Trojans host two matches at the Galen Center Pavilion as part of the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge on Friday (March 8). In the first match of the day, No. 4 UCLA takes on Penn State at 4 p.m. PT, followed by USC and eighth-ranked Ohio State (14-4) at 7 p.m. Both matches will be shown live on the USC live stream platform.

MATCH NOTES

USC improved to 21-12 all-time against Penn State.
The Trojans halted a season-long four-match losing streak.
USC earned its fourth win over an opponent ranked in the AVCA top 20 this season.

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.