No. 6 USC Men's Volleyball Stays Undefeated on 3-1 Win Over No. 17 Penn State

Saturday, February 1

Columbus, Ohio

4:00 p.m. ET | 1:00 p.m. PT

USC

8-0,0-0MPSF

Penn State

0-6,0-0EIVA

Southern California

Penn St.

Photo by: Drake Lee

No. 6 USC Men's Volleyball Stays Undefeated on 3-1 Win Over No. 17 Penn State

February 01, 2025 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

Noah Roberts scored a season-high 19.5 points with 15 kills, two service aces, and five blocks in a win over the Nittany Lions

COLUMBUS, Ohio – No. 6 USC men's volleyball improved to 8-0 for the first time since 1991 behind a four-set win (25-22, 21-25, 25-21, 25-15) against 17th-ranked Penn State (0-6) to conclude play in the Big Ten Challenge at Covelli Center on Saturday, Feb. 1.

KEY PLAYERS

Redshirt So. OPP Noah Roberts reached double-digit points for the fifth time and led the Trojans with a season-high 19.5 points on 15 kills (1e, 28att) for a season-high .500 hitting. He also had five blocks, three digs, and a pair of service aces.
Jr. OH Dillon Klein had 14 kills (1e) on just 23 attacks for a .565 hitting percentage. It was his 46th-career match in double-digit kills; his fifth this season. He also put up five digs and had a service ace to finish with 15.0 points.
So. S Caleb Blanchette put up 47 assists to set USC to its eighth straight match hitting plus-300. USC hit .473 (59k, 7e, 110att) against the Lions for the team's fourth contest over the .450 mark. Blanchette also had seven digs and a block.
Fr. OH Sterling Foley recorded his second-career match in double-digit kills. He had a career-high 11 (4e, 28att) on .250 hitting and added three digs and had a block to finish the day with 11.5 points.
Fr. MB Parker Tomkinson reached double-digit points for the fourth time and finished with 11.0 earned on nine kills (0e, 14att) with a .643 hitting percentage. He also had four blocks, four digs, and a pair of assists.
Fr. LIB Johnny Dykstra led the team with eight digs and put up three assists.
Off the bench, Sr. MB Markus Olsson had six kills (1e, 8att) to hit .625 and added two digs and a service ace.
For the Nittany Lions, Matthew Luoma led the way with 14 kills. Will Kuhns had 12 kills, three service aces, and two blocks to lead PSU with 16.0 points. Ryan Merk led all players with nine digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Trojans hit .473 to finish north of the .450 line for the third time in three matches on their Ohio road trip. USC also had more kills (59-52), assists (55-50), and blocks (7.0-5.5) than the Nittany Lions.
Klein came out and established himself in the first set with six kills on just seven swings. Roberts had four of his kills as the Trojans fought through 11 ties and a pair of lead changes to emerge with a 25-22 win. USC had 16 kills on 28 swings with just one error to hit .536 while Penn State hit .407 with 15 kills (4e, 27att) despite three Trojan blocks.
The Nittany Lions evened the match with a 25-21 win in the second frame. Penn State hit .303 with 16 kills and put up a pair of blocks to distance itself late in the set, but USC closed within two points at 17-15. The Trojans were outdone at the service line, 7-4, in set two including the last of six service errors on set point.
USC was white hot in the third set as it racked up 16 kills without a single error on 26 attempts for a .615 hitting percentage. Roberts had five kills to lead the charge while Klein, Tomkinson, and Foley each had three apiece. The Trojans led nearly the entire set, but Penn State closed within one point at 21-20 before USC sewed up a 25-21 win.
The teams traded barbs to open set four, but USC rolled to a three-point lead at 9-6 and Penn State had used its second timeout by the time the Trojans led, 12-7. From there, USC continued to build its lead with four kills from Klein and four from Foley to wrap up a 25-15 victory and seal the match. As a team, USC hit .500 with 17 kills (4e) on 26 attacks to overcome three Penn State blocks. The Lions managed just eight kills (2e) on 22 attacks for a .273 hitting rate.

UP NEXT

USC returns home to host Dominican University (1-4) in the Galen Center Pavilion next Saturday (Feb. 8) at noon PT. The match will be shown live on a Big Ten Plus stream.

MATCH NOTES

USC improved to 22-12 all-time against Penn State and has won each of the last two meetings with the Lions.
The Trojans start the season 8-0 for the first time under 10th-year head coach Jeff Nygaard and for the first time since 1991 when USC started 28-0 under Jim McLaughlin and finished 34-2 as the NCAA runner-up to Long Beach State.
The Trojans hit .473 against the Nittany Lions for their fourth match over .450 and eighth overall over .300.
USC's eight-match win streak is its longest under Nygaard and the longest since the Trojans won 18 in a row in 2012 under head coach Bill Ferguson.

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 Facebook, X, and Instagram.