No. 5 USC Men's Volleyball Takes Down No. 18 Princeton in Four

Friday, January 16

Los Angeles, Calif.

7:00 p.m. PT

USC

3-0,1-0MPSF

Princeton

0-2,0-0EIVA

Princeton

Southern California

Photo by: Kevin Kim

No. 5 USC Men's Volleyball Takes Down No. 18 Princeton in Four

January 16, 2026 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Highlights Press Conference

Dillon Klein racked up a season-high 27 kills and finished with 30.5 points in a victory over the Tigers

LOS ANGELES – The fifth-ranked USC men's volleyball team (3-0) defeated No. 18 Princeton (0-2) in four sets (25-17, 20-25, 26-24, 25-18) at Galen Center on Friday, Jan. 16.

KEY PLAYERS

Sr. OH Dillon Klein led all players with a season-high 30.5 points earned on a season-best 27 kills on 40 attacks. He had just one error to register a .650 hitting percentage and finished with seven digs, three blocks, and a pair of service aces. It was his 64th-career match in double-digit kills and his eighth time with 20 or more in a contest.
Redshirt So. MB Wesley Smith matched his career high with 15.0 points earned on 10 kills (0e) on 17 attacks to log his fifth-career match in double digits. Smith hit .588 and equaled his career high with eight blocks (two solo).
Jr. S Caleb Blanchette dished out 49 assists and set the Trojans to a .438 hitting percentage to go with nine digs, a block and a pair of service aces.
So. OH Christian Connell put up nine kills (3e, 20att) to hit .300 with four digs, a service ace, and a block.
So. LIB Johnny Dykstra recorded eight digs and had an assist.
For the Tigers, Owen Mellon had 20 kills, Andrew Werner had 14, and Ambrose Engling had nine. Nolan Kelly put up 52 assists and had six digs, two blocks, and three service aces.

HOW IT HAPPENED

USC hit .438 over Princeton's .360 and had more kills (58-55), assists (57-54), digs (38-30), blocks (13.0-8.5), and service aces (6-4). It was the Trojans' first match in double-digit blocks this spring.
The Trojans scored nine kills on their first 10 swings and finished with 12 on 15 (0e) to register a .800 hitting percentage in a 25-17 first-set win. Klein had four kills on four attempts while Smith tallied three on four attacks. The Trojans were staunch on defense and scored five of their points on blocks with Smith and Cooper Keane in on three blocks apiece. USC had a 7-3 edge in digs to help hold the Tigers to a .192 hitting rate (12k, 7e) on 26 attacks.
Princeton never trailed in the second set and evened the match on a 25-20 win in which the Tigers hit .577 with 16 kills and just a single error on 26 attacks. USC had 15 kills but committed six errors against Princeton's five-block performance to hit .310 on 29 attempts. Despite eight kills and a service ace from Klein, the Trojans couldn't overcome a Tiger offense that built a lead as large as six points at 17-11.
It took 11 ties and five lead changes, but the Trojans weathered the storm to take a 2-1 lead with a 26-24 win in the third set. Klein poured in 10 kills (1e) on 13 attacks to hit .692 while Connell had four and Smith added three more. USC had four blocks and put up 14 digs over the Tigers' 10 to hold Princeton to a .286 hitting rate (14k, 4e) on 35 attempts.
Klein had five more kills while Connell tagged four balls for kills on seven swings to help power USC to a .481 hitting rate and a 25-18 win. The Trojans had two more blocks and used 11 digs to stay ahead of a Princeton attack that also hit over .400 with 13 kills (2e, .407) on 27 swings. USC kept the service pressure on the Tigers and earned three aces, one each from Klein, Blanchette, and Connell whose ace put the Trojans at match point.

UP NEXT

USC hosts Fort Valley State (1-0) at Galen Center on Saturday (Jan. 24). The Trojans and the Wildcats will meet at 5 p.m. PT and be shown live on a Big Ten Plus stream.

MATCH NOTES

USC improved to 6-0 in all-time meetings with Princeton.
The Trojans moved to 2-0 at home this spring and will play a total of 16 matches at Galen Center.
Freshman OH Cooper Keane and sophomore MB Parker Tomkinson each saw match action for the first time 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, TikTok, and Instagram.