No. 5 USC Men's Volleyball Takes on Golden Eagles and No. 15 Nittany Lions

Thursday, March 12

Irvine, Calif.

6:00 p.m. PT

USC

Concordia

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USC men's volleyball middle blocker Wesley Smith goes up to attack the ball during a match against UCLA at the Galen Center

Photo by: Kevin Kim

No. 5 USC Men's Volleyball Takes on Golden Eagles and No. 15 Nittany Lions

March 09, 2026 | Men's Volleyball

#USCMVB Notebook (March 9)2026 USC Schedule Buy Tickets

The Trojans look to snap a three-match losing streak when it takes on CUI and 15th-ranked Penn State this week

LOS ANGELES – Fifth-ranked USC (8-3, 1-2 MPSF) looks to end a three-match losing streak when the Trojans take on Concordia (5-11, 2-3) at CU Arena in Irvine, Calif., on Thursday (March 12) at 6 p.m. PT. USC will also host 15th-ranked Penn State (11-5, 4-0 EIVA) for a nonconference bout on Saturday (March 14) at 5 p.m. Both matches will be shown live on Big Ten Plus streams. The Nittany Lions' visit to LA will be part of a farewell tour of sorts for longtime Penn State coach Mark Pavlik who has announced that he will retire at the end of the 2026 season after 32 years leading the Lions. The Trojans—who have lost three straight since winning eight in a row to open the season—are 6-2 at Galen Center.

THIS WEEK

MATCH #12 • Thursday, March 12 • 6 p.m. PT
No. 5 USC (8-3, 1-2) at Concordia (5-11, 2-3)
CU Arena • Irvine, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 16-6 (.727)
LAST MEETING: W 3-2 (Feb. 16, 2024 • Galen Center)
STREAK: Won 8 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 8-2
TV/STREAM: B1G+
OPPONENT WEBSITE: CUIGoldenEagles.com

MATCH #13 • Saturday, March 14 • 5 p.m. PT
No. 5 USC (8-3) vs. No. 15 Penn State (11-5, 4-0 EIVA)
Galen Center • Los Angeles, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 23-12 (.657)
LAST MEETING: W 3-0 (March 13, 2025 • Honolulu, Hawai'i)
STREAK: Won 3 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 6-4
TV/STREAM: B1G+ (PxP Avi Singh, Analyst Makena
Arteaga, and Sideline Alana Morgan)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: GoPSUSports.com

FIRST SERVE (TL;DR)

USC is led by 11th-year head coach Jeff Nygaard, a three-time Olympian in indoor and beach volleyball and a two-time NCAA champion.
The Trojans are ranked fifth in the AVCA Coaches Poll; the program's 512th appearance in the national poll.
USC and Concordia have not met since a 2024 home-and-home (Feb. 14, 16) due to the MPSF's new member and unbalanced league schedule.
The Trojans are 6-2 at Galen Center. Last year, USC won 11 home matches and will play 16 times at home in 2026. In fact, the Trojans play in Southern California for all but two regular-season matches (at BYU, April 10-11).
USC returns five players in 2026 that were recognized by the AVCA All-America committee in 2025 including first-team choice OH Dillon Klein and second-team MB Parker Tomkinson. S Caleb Blanchette, OH Sterling Foley, and LIB Johnny Dykstra each received All-America honorable mention.

LAST TIME OUT: The Trojans were defeated in back-to-back matches by No. 1-ranked crosstown rival UCLA. In the first meeting at Galen Center, USC had several match-point opportunities in the fourth set, but the Bruins completed a 30-28 win to send the match to set five before closing out a 15-9 decision to seal the win. Dillon Klein led all players with 28.5 points and did his damage with 25 kills, two aces, and three blocks. Wesley Smith had a season-high 11 kills and hit .786 with a match-high eight blocks (two solo) while Johnny Dykstra delivered a career-high 19 digs. In the rematch at Pauley Pavilion, UCLA won set one, 25-22, but the Trojans evened the score with a 25-23 win in set two. The Bruins were rarely threatened in the third and fourth on the way to completing the 2-0 series sweep. Klein had 16 kills and Sterling Foley had 10 in the rematch while Dykstra reached double-digit digs again to finish with 10.

POLL POSITION: The Trojans ranked No. 5 in the AVCA Preseason Poll. USC ranks fifth in the March 9 poll for the Trojans' 512th time in the coaches poll. Last season, the Trojans reached fifth on Feb. 3 to mark their highest position since they were also ranked No. 5 in 2022 (April 18). On March 10, 2025, USC's spot at No. 5 marked the 200th time the Trojans had been ranked in the poll's top five; now 217 times. The Trojans reached the top three (March 24, 2025) for the first time in over 10 years and were previously ranked as high as third on Feb. 16, 2015.

EXTENDED: 11th-year head coach Jeff Nygaard had his contract extended through the 2028 season. He is the longest-tenured coach in program history and has collected 131 wins at USC. In 2025, he led the Trojans to their highest ranking in over a decade.

POW-WOW: Seven Trojans have won MPSF/Molten Player of the Week honors. OH Dillon Klein was named Offensive Player of the Week for the first USC award of 2026 on Feb. 2 and has been tabbed for weekly honors seven times in his career. He was chosen for offensive and defensive honors a total of three times in 2025. MB Wesley Smith was chosen for his second-career Defensive Player of the Week award on Feb. 9. LIB Brad Pan earned the Defensive Player of the Week award on Feb. 16; the first of his career. He was also chosen for the same honor as a freshman in 2024. Among others who won awards last season are MB Parker Tomkinson (twice), LIB Johnny Dykstra, S Caleb Blanchette, and OH Sterling Foley. Klein has collected six-career weekly honors; five offensive and one defensive. USC has swept the weekly awards six times since March 7, 2022.

1K DK: OH Dillon Klein has reached double-digit kills in 72 of 89 career matches and reached the 20-kill mark 12 times. He reached 1,000 career kills on April 17, 2025, in a match at UCLA and now has 1,238 career kills and counting.

UPPER CLASS: Through 11 matches, OH Dillon Klein ranks second in the MPSF for points per set (5.03 pps, 3rd in the NCAA) and kills per set at 4.39 kps (2nd in the NCAA). Through three matches he was the NCAA leader in hitting percentage but is now fourth in the MPSF and is 15th in the nation at .385.

2K GOLD: S Caleb Blanchette crossed the 2,000-assist mark in his career in the Trojans' season opener against St. Thomas Aquinas (Jan. 10). He dished out 28 assists in a 3-0 win over the Spartans and is now up to 2,410-career assists. In 2025, he led the MPSF—ranked fourth in the NCAA—in assists (10.61 aps) and equaled his career-high (61) twice.

BLOCKHEADS: MB Wesley Smith and MB Parker Tomkinson are among the top blockers in the MPSF. Smith's 1.20 blocks per set leads the conference (7th in the NCAA) while Tomkinson averages 0.96 blocks per set but is not ranked due to minimum sets played for individual statistical rankings.

JOHNNY ON THE SPOT: LIB Johnny Dykstra led the MPSF in digs with 2.24 dps in 2025. He produced nine matches in double-digit digs and ranked 18th in the nation for digs, third best among the nation's freshmen. Dykstra logged his first two double-digit digs matches against UCLA this spring. He put up a career-high 19 digs in the first meeting between the crosstown rivals and is up to 11-career matches in double-digit digs.