No. 4 USC Men's Volleyball Falls to No. 5 UCI in Four

Friday, February 13

Los Angeles, Calif.

7:00 p.m. PT

USC

8-1,1-0MPSF

UC Irvine

12-1,0-0Big West

UC Irvine

Southern California

Photo by: Kim Ly

No. 4 USC Men's Volleyball Falls to No. 5 UCI in Four

February 13, 2026 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Highlights Press Conference

Dillon Klein collected 23 kills to lead the Trojan attack against the Anteaters

LOS ANGELES – The fourth-ranked USC men's volleyball team (8-1) took its first loss of the season as the Trojans fell to No. 5 UC Irvine (12-1) in four tightly contested sets (25-20, 23-25, 25-23, 25-23) at Galen Center on Friday, Feb. 13.

KEY PLAYERS

Sr. OH Dillon Klein led all players with 23 kills (4e, 39att) and hit .487 to go with six digs, a block, and three assists. He reached double-digits kills in a match for the 70th time in his career and had his 11th contest with 20 or more kills.
So. OH Sterling Foley notched 10 kills for his fourth match in double digits and racked up 11 digs to produce his second-career double-double. Foley also served the Trojans' only two aces.
Jr. S Caleb Blanchette put up 53 assists and set the Trojans to .417 hitting to go with seven digs and a kill.
On defense, Jr. LIB Brad Pan matched his career high with seven digs.
Fr. OH Cooper Keane came off the bench to play the third and fourth sets and put up a career high 12 kills (4e, 19att) on .421 hitting and had five digs (also a career mark) and two blocks.
So. MB Tyler Robinson posted a career-best 10 kills (0e) and did it on just 12 swings to hit .833 with a team-high four blocks (one solo) and had a dig and an assist.
For the Anteaters, William D'Arcy led with 24.5 points earned on 21 kills, two aces, and five blocks. Andrej Jokanovic had 15 kills with five digs, three blocks, and three service aces.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Trojans out-hit the Anteaters, .417 to .344, and logged their ninth match over .300 hitting and their fourth north of .400. USC also had more kills (64-56), assists (63-51), and digs (44-28) by a healthy margin, but UC Irvine had a slight edge in blocks (8.5 to 7.5) and won the service line by a 24-14 count with a 7-2 advantage in aces.
Neither team hit over .200 in the first set, but the Anteaters did just enough to take a 25-20 win. UCI had 11 kills (6e) on 32 swings to hit .156 over the Trojans' .148 with 11 kills (7e) on 27 attacks. USC had more digs, 12-9, but the 'Eaters had more blocks (4.5-2.5) and aces, 3-2. Klein led all players with six kills in set one while D'Arcy had five for UC Irvine.
The Trojans hit .417 in set two, put up three blocks, and had a 7-4 edge in digs, but the Anteaters weathered 11 ties and three lead changes to take a 2-0 lead in the match on a 25-23 win. USC led by two twice and as late as 14-12, but UCI went ahead at 16-15 and never trailed again. D'Arcy had six kills and Jokanovic had five to help the Anteaters hit .344 in the frame with 16 kills (5e) on 32 attacks.
USC racked up 21 kills (2e, 32att) and hit .594 to close out a 25-23 win in the third to push the match to the fourth. Keane had six of his kills in the third while Klein added five. Parker Tomkinson, Foley, and Robinson each tallied three kills apiece. The set was tied 14 times through 28 rallies, but the Trojans pulled away to lead by as many as three at 19-16 on a kill by Tomkinson. UCI forced the set's 16th tie at 23-all but Foley and Klein scored back-to-back kills to close the frame.
Set four was tied nine times but only after the Trojans had led by as many as four several times. UCI forced the second tie of the set (15-15) on a block, but Klein collected two of his nine fourth-set kills to put the Trojans on top, 17-15. From there, the Anteaters stepped ahead by a point seven times until D'Arcy's kill made it 24-23. UCI won the final rally on a kill from Andon Kiriakou to seal the 25-23 result.

UP NEXT

USC will have 18 days between matches and roll into MPSF play with a home-and-home with crosstown rival and No. 1-ranked UCLA on Tuesday, March 3, and Friday, March 6. The Trojans and Bruins will meet at Galen Center for the first match and then move to Pauley Pavilion for the rematch. Both will be shown live nationally on Big Ten Networks.

MATCH NOTES

USC fell to 44-39 all-time against UC Irvine and splits the season series with the Anteaters.
The Trojans dropped their first home match of the season and go to 6-1 at Galen Center.
The Anteaters were also responsible for USC's first loss last season but ended the Trojans' 9-0 start to the season with a win at Bren Events Center on Feb. 12, 2025.

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.