No. 3 USC Men's Volleyball Ready to Hit No. 8 Waves

LOS ANGELES – The third-ranked USC men's volleyball team (18-2, 6-0 MPSF) looks to extend its nine-match win streak in a home-and-home with No. 8 Pepperdine (14-6, 6-2) this week. The Trojans and Waves meet at Galen Center on Thursday (April 3) for a 7 p.m. PT clash and then get together for a rematch at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu on Saturday (April 5) at 5 p.m. Pepperdine has won each of the last five meetings while USC has won just once in the teams' last 10 matches, but the Trojans seek to buck those trends and push to the longest win streak under head coach Jeff Nygaard. As it stands, this is only the second time in program history that USC has produced two separate win streaks of nine matches or more in the same season; the other was in 1988.

THIS WEEK
No. 3 USC (18-2, 4-0 MPSF) vs. No. 8 Pepperdine (14-6, 6-2 MPSF)

MATCH #21 • Thursday, April 3 • 7 p.m. PT
Galen Center • Los Angeles, Calif.
TV/STREAM: B1G+ (Andrew Giesler & Kasey Kazliner)

MATCH #22 • Saturday, April 5 • 5 p.m. PT
Firestone Fieldhouse • Malibu, Calif.
TV/STREAM: B1G+

SERIES RECORD: USC trails, 44-77 (.364)
LAST MEETING: L 3-1 (March 30, 2024 • Galen Center)
STREAK: Lost 5 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 1-9
OPPONENT WEBSITE: PepperdineWaves.com

FIRST SERVE (TL;DR)

USC is led by 10th-year head coach Jeff Nygaard, a three-time Olympian in indoor and beach volleyball and a two-time NCAA champion.
The Trojans are ranked third in the AVCA Coaches Poll. USC reached third on March 17, the team's highest ranking since it was No. 3 on Feb. 16, 2015.
USC leads the MPSF in all statistical categories with the exception of service aces. The Trojans are the NCAA leader in kills (13.70 kps), assists (12.75 aps), and blocks (2.84 bps). USC is second in the NCAA in hitting (.382).
The Trojans have reached double-digit blocks in 10 of their 20 matches.
USC has had two win streaks of nine matches this season; the second time in program history (1988, streaks of 11 and 15 wins).
Jr. OH Dillon Klein has reached double-digit kills in 16 matches and has had 57 double-digit matches in his career. His 4.25 kills per set lead the MPSF (4th, NCAA) and he is first in points at 4.86 pps (8th, NCAA).
So. S Caleb Blanchette leads the NCAA in assists (11.30 aps) and is ninth in the MPSF in digs (1.66 dps). He is this week's MPSF Defensive Player of the Week.
Fr. LIB Johnny Dykstra leads the MPSF in digs (2.31 dps), 12th in the NCAA.
Gr. MB Guy Genis is second in the MPSF in blocks (1.11 bps, 8th in the NCAA). Fr. MB Parker Tomkinson is third in the MPSF (11th, NCAA) with 1.09 bps.

FOLLOW THE TROJANS: Regular-season home matches at Galen Center and all MPSF conference matches are streamed live on the Big Ten Plus app and at BigTenPlus.com. Follow USC matches on live stats with links at USCTrojans.com.

LAST TIME OUT: USC collected a pair of four-set home victories over 13th-ranked Grand Canyon to extend to its second nine-match win streak this season; the first time since 1988 that the Trojans have put together two streaks of nine or more wins in the same year. The wins were USC's 10th and 11th over ranked foes this spring and has the Trojans at 6-0 in league play for the first time since 2015. In the first meeting, Dillon Klein and Jack Deuchar each led the way with 21.5 points while Deuchar racked up 20 kills on .600 hitting. Sterling Foley served five aces in the win. In the rematch, three Trojans reached double-digit kills led by Klein's 16. Caleb Blanchette put up 43 assists and 13 digs for his fifth-career double-double and Deuchar notched the first of his career with 11 kills and 11 digs. It was the first time two Trojans recorded double-doubles in the same match since Jan. 19, 2023, when Ryan Sprague and Kevin Kobrine each had double-doubles in a win over UC Santa Barbara.

POLL POSITION: The Trojans were ranked No. 7 in the AVCA Preseason Poll. In 2024, the poll expanded to 20 teams (previously 15). USC is currently ranked No. 3 in the March 31 poll. The Trojans reached fifth in the coach's poll on Feb. 3 to mark their highest position since they also ranked No. 5 in 2022 (April 18). On March 10, USC's spot at No. 5 marked the 200th time the Trojans have been ranked in the AVCA Poll's top five. The Trojans' reached the top three (March 24) for the first time in over 10 years and were previously ranked as high as third on Feb. 16, 2015.

POW-WOW: Trojans have collected Molten/MPSF Player of the Week honors seven times this spring; three of the offensive variety and four defensive awards. OH Dillon Klein (Defensive) and MB Parker Tomkinson (Offensive) were chosen for MPSF Player of the Week awards on Jan. 27 and repeated for the opposite awards one week later (Feb. 3). On March 17, Klein earned his second offensive honor and was joined by first-time winner LIB Johnny Dykstra who claimed the defensive award. On March 31, S Caleb Blanchette earned the first weekly award of his career as the fourth different Trojan to win Defensive Player of the Week. Klein has collected five-career weekly honors; four offensive and one defensive. Tomkinson—a freshman—earned both offensive and defensive weekly honors in short order. USC has swept the weekly awards five times since March 7, 2022.

STEEP INKLEIN: OH Dillon Klein was chosen as the AVCA's National Player of the Week on Feb. 4 and repeated the feat on March 18. His second selection made him the first player to win multiple awards this season. He is also the first USC player to be selected for the national weekly award more than once in his career since Tony Ciarelli (four times from 2010-12). Klein joins Ciarelli (4), Murphy Troy (3), Brooks Billings (3), and Eli Fairfield (2) and becomes the fifth Trojan to have won national player of the week honors multiple times. Klein (2025) and Ciarelli (2011) are the only two Trojans to have won more than once in the same season.

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Players Mentioned

Caleb Blanchette

Jack Deuchar

Johnny Dykstra

Sterling Foley

Guy Genis

Dillon Klein

Ryan Sprague

Parker Tomkinson