USC
Cal Baptist
Cal Baptist Shocks USC Men's Volleyball, 3-1
February 24, 2000 | Men's Volleyball
Feb. 24, 2000
LOS ANGELES - Defending NAIA champion Cal Baptist shocked the No. 3-ranked USC men's volleyball team, posting a 15-7, 13-15, 16-14, 15-9 victory over the Trojans on Wednesday (Feb. 23) at the school's Riverside campus.
The Lancers, currently ranked No. 1 in the NAIA after starting their program just last season, won their seventh match in a row. USC lost its second straight, having fallen last Friday (Feb. 18) at Mountain Pacific Sports Federation foe BYU.
Since the match was not against an NCAA opponent, the results don't count in USC's NCAA record.
The Trojans played without Brook Billings and Eli Fairfield, the team's top two kill leaders, who were resting stress fractures in their legs. It was the third straight match that Billings was sidelined and Fairfield's first. Both likely will miss USC's next match, at home this Friday (Feb. 25) against non-conference foe UC Santa Cruz at 7 p.m., but could be ready when Troy returns to MPSF action at Pepperdine next Tuesday (Feb. 29).
Cal Baptist's Rafael Paal had 25 kills and 7 blocks, both match bests.
For USC, Trevor Julian had 23 kills while hitting .410, Mark Dusharme added 21 kills and Beau Rawi had 17 kills.
Cal Baptist outhit USC, .368 to .218, and had more blocks 19.0 to 7.0 and more aces, 13 to 9.
