USC Men's Volleyball Falls in Tight Four-Set Battle in MPSF Championship Match

Saturday, April 25

Provo, Utah

7:00 p.m. MT / 6:00 p.m. PT

USC

19-7,9-5MPSFMVB

UCLA

29-1,13-1MPSFMVB

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Southern California	23	25	26	24	1
UCLA	25	22	28	26	3

Photo by: Sarah Fitzgerald

USC Men's Volleyball Falls in Tight Four-Set Battle in MPSF Championship Match

April 25, 2026 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Highlights

Sterling Foley and Parker Tomkinson were each named to the MPSF All-Tournament Team

PROVO, Utah – The third-seeded USC men's volleyball team (19-7) fell to top-seeded and No. 1-ranked UCLA (29-1) in a tight four-set decision (25-23, 22-25, 28-26, 26-24) to finish as the runner-up in the MPSF championship match at Smith Fieldhouse on Saturday, April 25.

KEY PLAYERS

So. OH Sterling Foley led the Trojans with 17 kills (3e, 32att) and hit .438 to go with two blocks, two service aces, and three digs. It was his 10th match in double-digit kills; 15th in double-digit points.
Sr. OH Dillon Klein reached double-digit kills for the 82nd time in his career and finished with 13 to go with three blocks, two service aces, and eight digs.
So. MB Parker Tomkinson put up eight kills (1e, 14att) and hit .500 with seven blocks (two solo) and three digs for 12.5 points; his sixth match in double-digit points.
Redshirt So. MB Wesley Smith totaled seven kills (3e, 15att) to hit .267 and added three blocks and a pair of digs.
Fr. S Andrew Chapin put up 27 assists with three blocks and had a dig and a kill.
So. LIB Johnny Dykstra had eight digs and a pair of assists.
For the Bruins, Zach Rama led with 18 kills while Sean Kelly had 12. David Decker turned in eight kills and Cameron Thorne had six. Micah Wong Diallo led the Bruins with four blocks and had three kills and four digs. Andrew Rowan put up 42 assists to go with two kills, three digs, and a service ace.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Both teams finished with 49 kills, but UCLA had a slim edge with .262 hitting (21e, 107att) over USC's .259 (21e, 108att). The Trojans had more digs (32-28) and put up their 11th match in double-digit blocks to finish with a 12-7 advantage at the net. Both teams registered 23 service errors, but the Bruins had seven service aces to the Trojans' four.
Tied at 23-all, the Bruins won the last two points of the opening frame to go in front, 1-0. USC had nine kills (4e) on 21 swings to post a .238 hitting percentage led by three kills apiece from Klein and Keane. Keane had four digs to lead USC's floor defense, which made use of every one of UCLA's nine service errors to stay afoot. The Bruins hit .385 (13k, 3e, 26att) led by six kills from Rama.
The Trojans racked 4.5 blocks in the second set and pulled away at the end to close out a 25-22 win to even the match. The set had 14 ties and four lead changes, but USC's .217 hitting (12k, 7e, 23att) and five digs was enough to stay ahead of the Bruins' .087 (9k, 7e, 23att) and three digs. Foley turned in five of his kills on six swings without an error while Tomkinson had three kills and two blocks. Klein had two kills and a pair of service aces.
It took 18 ties and six lead changes to complete a tight third set, but UCLA went ahead, 2-1, with a 28-26 win. Foley had seven kills and Klein totaled five as part of an 18-kill performance by the Trojans who hit .351 (5e, 37att). UCLA had 15 kills (5e) on 30 attacks to hit .333 but calmed its woes from the service line and took advantage of eight USC errors.
In another evenly played set, UCLA closed out the win with a narrow 26-24 win after 11 ties and five lead changes. Klein, Foley, and Smith each logged three kills (10k, 5e, 27att) to help USC hit .185. The Bruins got three kills apiece from Rama and Thorne and hit .179 (11k, 6e) on 28 attempts. Despite trailing by as many as six points at 15-9 and 16-10, the Trojans fought back to tie the score at 17-all and stayed toe-to-toe with the Bruins all the way to the end.

UP NEXT

USC now awaits the disposition of the NCAA selection committee in hopes of receiving one of five at-large berths into the 2026 tournament. The Trojans last made the national tourney in 2019. The NCAA's selection show will be streamed live on NCAA.com at 4 p.m. ET (1 p.m. PT) on Sunday (April 26). This is the first year of the bracket expanding to a 12-team field to include seven automatic qualifiers and five at-large selections.

MATCH NOTES

USC fell to 47-111 all-time against UCLA and to 2-3 when the teams meet in the MPSF tournament.
The Trojans moved to 10-7 in matches against ranked opponents and to 3-7 against teams ranked in the top 10.
USC fell to 19-22 all-time in MPSF tournament matches.
USC played its third neutral site match of the season and fell to 6-4 away from home (2-1 in neutral matches).

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.