Mens Volleyball Resumes MPSF Play
June 21, 1999 | Men's Volleyball
April 5, 1999
LOS ANGELES - After a week off, the No. 10 USC men's volleyball team (18-10 overall, 11-9 NCAA, 7-7 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation)--looking to stay in the hunt for a berth in the MPSF tourney--resumes MPSF play with 3 road matches in 5 days this week: at UC San Diego (5-19, 0-16) on Tuesday (April 6), San Diego State (2-15, 2-14) on Wednesday (April 7) and Cal State Northridge (2-19, 1-15) on Saturday (April 10). Each match starts at 7 p.m.
RANKINGS--USC is ranked 10th in both the USA Today/AVCA Coaches poll and the Volleyball magazine poll. UC San Diego is No. 3 in the latest Division III poll, while San Diego State and UC Northridge are not ranked
OPPONENTS--UC San Diego, San Diego State and Cal State Northridge have struggled in 1999. UC San Diego's only wins have been over Stevens, Princeton, UC Santa Cruz (twice) and La Verne. USC holds a 17-1 lead over the Tritons, including a 3-1 victory to open 1999 MPSF play. San Diego State, which has lost 10 of its last 11, posted its only wins of 1999 over UC San Diego and Cal State Northridge. USC is 50-14 all-time over the Aztecs, including a 3-0 win earlier this season. Cal State Northridge has lost 11 consecutive matches, with its only 1999 victories coming over UC San Diego and La Verne. CSUN hosts BYU on April 7. USC leads its series with the Matadors, 33-8, including a 2-0 win in pool play at the UC Santa Barbara Collegiate Invitational earlier this year.
LAST MATCHES--Before taking last week off, USC posted a 15-5, 15-3, 15-7 non-conference win over La Verne behind Eli Fairfield's 20 kills (the Trojans outhit La Verne, .551 to .267). Then, despite a match-high 29 kills from Brook Billings, Troy fell on the road to top-ranked Long Beach State, 15-12, 8-15, 15-6, 16-14. It was the Trojans' third loss of 1999 to Long Beach State (USC extended the 49ers to 5 games in the first 2 meetings and almost did so again, as Troy led 14-12 in the fourth game before falling). Fairfield added 15 kills, while Omar Rawi had 11 blocks and Donald Suxho had 8 blocks and 8 digs.
COACH PAT POWERS--Legendary Olympic gold medalist, collegiate All-American and pro beach star Pat Powers returned in 1997 to his alma mater--which he led to the 1980 NCAA title as a player--to become the USC mens volleyball head coach and help bring the Trojans back to national prominence. His 3-year career mark is 53-41. In 1997, his first season, Powers put USC back on track, with its first winning season since 1994 at 18-14. Last year, his Trojans went 17-17 and missed the MPSF Tournament by just one win. The 6-foot-5 Powers is regarded as one of the greatest players in international volleyball history. He was a member of the U.S. National Team for nine years (1978-86) and started at outside hitter on a squad that won Americas first-ever "Triple Crown": the 1984 Olympics, the 1985 World Cup and the 1986 World Championships.
DONALD SUXHO--Setter Donald Suxho, an All-American candidate starting for his third season, is USC's veteran. USC's ace (42), dig (132) and assist (1,244) leader who is averaging 16.8 assists per game in 1999, he shares the school season ace record with Bryan Ivie (1991). He made the All-Tournament team at the 1999 UC Santa Barbara Collegiate Invitational. He had 4 aces against San Diego State, UC Irvine, Pacific, UCLA and BYU and 18 digs versus Stanford and 16 versus UCLA. He was named MPSF Player of the Week (Week 4) with 13 blocks, 27 digs and 9 aces against UC Irvine, Pacific and Stanford. At the IPFW Spring Fling, he had 12 digs against Ball State and hit .700 versus IPFW with 11 blocks. He had 8 blocks and 8 digs at Long Beach State. The 6-5 junior from Albania was an All-MPSF third teamer in 1998 when set a since-broken NCAA record for most assists in a match (129 versus Ohio State in 1997).
ELI FAIRFIELD--Another All-American candidate is 6-7 sophomore outside hitter Eli Fairfield, a Freshman All-American in 1998. This season, he is second on USC in kills (314). He led USC in kills (15) and blocks (5) at Cal Baptist. In a 3-match streak in early February, he had a match-high 33 kills with 6 blocks and 6 digs against UC Irvine, another match-best 16 kills while hitting .652 versus Pacific and a team-high 21 kills against Stanford. He had 13 kills against UCLA, then hit .444 and had a match-best 22 kills versus Loyola Marymount. He missed the Long Beach State match (flu). He had a match-best 23 kills at Pacific. His 18 kills versus BYU tied for match-high honors. He posted 25 kills against Loyola (Chicago) and 19 at UC Santa Barbara (hitting .412). At the IPFW Spring Fling, he had 19 kills and 10 digs against Ball State. He had a match-high 20 kills while hitting .312 against La Verne. At Long Beach State, he had 15 kills. He played for the USA Volleyball Junior National team in the summer of 1998.
BROOK BILLINGS--Highly-regarded 6-5 freshman Brook Billings, who was the MVP of Volleyball magazines 1998 Fab 50 prep list, has earned a starting spot at outside hitter. He tops USC in kills (403) in 1999. In his first match as a Trojan, he posted a match-high 23 kills and added 6 digs against Alberta. A slight ankle sprain sidelined him for the Cal Baptist match and some of the UC Santa Barbara Collegiate Invitational. He then led USC in kills against UC San Diego (16) and San Diego State (17). In a 3-match stretch in early February, he had 28 kills against UC Irvine, 14 kills against Pacific and a team-high 19 versus Stanford (with 6 blocks). Against UCLA he led USC with 15 kills and then added 17 kills versus Loyola Marymount. He had a match-best 25 kills against Long Beach State, then added 17 at Stanford while hitting .538 and 16 at Pacific. He led USC in kills (20) versus Pepperdine and tied for match-high kill honors (18) against BYU. He had a then-career-best 29 kills with 8 digs and 7 blocks against Loyola (Chicago) and, in the following match at UC Santa Barbara, he had career bests for kills (32) and hitting percentage (.553) as he earned AVCA National Player of the Week and MPSF Player of the Week honors. At the IPFW Spring Fling, he had 28 kills and a career-best 15 digs against Ball State and then he tied a career best for kills (32) and had 11 digs versus IPFW. He hit .720 (7 kills, 0 errors, 11 attempts) against La Verne. He had a match-best 29 kills at Long Beach State. He played for the USA Volleyball Junior National team in the summer of 1998 after making the 1998 All-CIF Division II first team as a senior at San Marcos High in Santa Barbara, Calif.
TREVOR JULIAN--Trevor Julian, a 6-5 sophomore, returns as a starting outside hitter. He was named to the All-Tournament team at the 1999 UC Santa Barbara Collegiate Invitational, hitting .375 against Long Beach State in the final. He had double figures in kills in 3 consecutive matches: 14 versus UC Irvine while hitting .400, 10 versus Pacific and 12 against Stanford while hitting .556. Against Long Beach State, he had 10 blocks and 13 kills. He hit .538 at Stanford and .462 versus Loyola (Chicago). At Long Beach State, he had 11 kills while hitting .381.
MIDDLE BLOCKERS--USC sports a brother act at middle blocker with 6-5 siblings Omar and Beau Rawi. Junior Omar is starting at middle blocker for his second season. He leads USC in total blocks 109) and hitting percentage (.406) in 1999. This year, he had 9 blocks against UC San Diego, then 8 blocks versus San Diego State and 9 blocks against UC Irvine (with 15 kills and 9 digs). He had 13 kills while hitting .545 against Pepperdine, then had 11 kills, 7 digs and 8 blocks versus BYU. He hit .571 versus Loyola (Chicago) and .500 at UC Santa Barbara (with 11 kills, 9 digs and 6 blocks). At the IPFW Spring Classic, he had 19 kills (hitting .640) and 9 blocks against Ball State. He had a match-high 11 blocks at Long Beach State. Freshman Beau, who has started 15 times, is second on USC in 1999 in hitting percentage (.375) and blocks (84). He started his first match against San Diego State and hit .538 with 9 kills (after hitting .667 with 9 kills versus UC San Diego). He hit .435 with 14 kills and 8 digs versus UC Irvine. He added 12 kills against Loyola Marymount. Against Long Beach State, he hit .545 with 15 kills and a team-high 12 blocks. He hit .429 at Stanford and had 14 kills at Pacific. Against BYU, he had 13 kills (hitting .429) and 6 blocks. He had a career-best 21 kills (while hitting .552) with 6 blocks and 4 aces against Loyola (Chicago). Handling the other 7 starts has been 6-7 soph Tony Knopp. He hit .412 with 10 kills against Long Beach State in the finals of the UC Santa Barbara Collegiate Invitational. He added 8 kills and 8 blocks against UC Santa Cruz. At Pacific, he had 12 kills (hitting .529) and 7 blocks.
OTHERS--With the emergence of Brook Billings, 1998 co-starter Craig Dennis, a 6-3 sophomore, provides USC with experienced depth coming off the bench (he has even started 7 times in 1999). He had a match-high 10 kills against UC Santa Cruz and a career-high 25 kills against Long Beach State in 1999. Against UCLA, he came off the bench and had 11 kills. He started for a sick Eli Fairfield against Long Beach State and had 19 kills. Against BYU, he tied for match-high kill honors (18).
