No. 3 USC Men's Volleyball Drops Four-Set Decision to No. 13 Stanford

Saturday, April 12

Los Angeles, Calif.

5:00 p.m. PT

USC

19-5,7-3MPSF

Stanford

11-12,4-6MPSF

Stanford

Southern California

Photo by: Kate Tsao

No. 3 USC Men's Volleyball Drops Four-Set Decision to No. 13 Stanford

April 12, 2025 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

Christian Connell led the Trojans with a career-high 18 kills in a loss to the Cardinal

LOS ANGELES – The No. 3-ranked USC men's volleyball team (19-5, 7-3 MPSF) fell to 13th-ranked Stanford (11-12, 4-6) in four sets (27-25, 25-21, 20-25, 31-29) at Galen Center on Saturday evening, April 12.

KEY PLAYERS

Fr. OPP Christian Connell set new career highs with 18 kills and 39 attacks (3e) on .385 hitting to lead the team with a career-high 20.0 points. He also had three digs, two blocks, and a service ace.
Gr. MB Guy Genis had a season-high 10 kills (2e) on 20 swings and hit .400 with four blocks, two digs, and a service ace.
Fr. MB Parker Tomkinson racked up 10 kills for his fifth match in double-digits and did it on .300 hitting (4e, 20att) with four blocks for his 11th match in double-digit points (13.0).
Redshirt So. OH Riley Haine got the start and finished with 10 kills and had eight digs and three blocks (one solo).
Redshirt Fr. OH Jack Ebertin came off the bench and collected eight kills to match his career high (3e, 22att, .227) to go with four digs and three blocks (one solo).
Fr. LIB Johnny Dykstra picked up 12 digs for his eighth match in double-digit digs.
So. S Caleb Blanchette dished out 49 assists and had six digs, two blocks, and a kill.
For the Cardinal, Theo Snoey led with 26 kills (8e, 47att) on .383 hitting and added 11 digs for a double-double. Moses Wagner had 22 kills and hit .395 to go with seven digs and four blocks. Evan Porter had 11 digs on defense and Theoren Brouillette put up 55 assists to go with 12 digs for a double-double.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Trojans' early three-point lead faded away and turned into a four-point Stanford lead, 22-18. USC fought back with a 4-0 run to claim set point at 25-24 but the Cardinal closed the door with the last three points in a 27-25 win. Genis had the hot hand in the opening frame and finished with five kills, two blocks, and a service ace for 7.0 points. Connell had three kills while Foley and Tomkinson each added two.
The teams fought through 11 ties and four lead changes in set two, but Stanford claimed a 2-0 lead with a 25-21 win behind eight kills from Wagner and six from Snoey. The Trojans hit .310 and were led by three kills apiece from Haine and Ebertin. Stanford hit .324 with 18 kills (6e) on 37 swings over USC's 12 kills (3e, 29att).
USC led wire-to-wire to take a 25-20 win in the third. The Trojans hit .382 with 15 kills (2e) on 34 attacks and were led by Connell's five-kill performance. Tomkinson and Haine each added four kills and Genis tallied two. USC led by as many as nine at 24-15 but Stanford erased five set points before USC put the set away. The Trojans put up three blocks to help hold the Cardinal attack to a .242 rate with 13 kills (5e) on 33 swings.
The Cardinal led for most of the fourth, but the Trojans mounted a late run and had set point on two occasions before Stanford sealed the match with a 31-29 win. Snoey had nine of his kills in the fourth and Wagner added six. Connell had eight to lead the Trojans while Ebertin tallied five and Tomkinson four.

UP NEXT

USC closes the regular season with a home-and-home against crosstown rival UCLA next week. The teams meet at Pauley Pavilion for a 7:30 p.m. PT match on Thursday (April 17) that will be shown live on Big Ten Network. The Bruins then come to Galen Center for a rematch on Saturday (April 19) at 5 p.m. The second meeting will be the Trojans' Senior Night and will be shown on Big Ten Plus (B1G+).

MATCH NOTES

USC falls to 72-41 all-time against Stanford as the Cardinal won its fifth straight over the Trojans.
The Trojans reached double-digit blocks for the 13th time this season (10.5).
USC's three-match streak of losses is its longest 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 Facebook, X, and Instagram.