USC
UC Santa Barbara
USC Men's Volleyball Upset By UC Santa Barbara
April 12, 2001 | Men's Volleyball
April 12, 2001
Despite 27 kills and 7 digs, both match highs, by junior All-American opposite hitter Brook Billings, the No. 6-ranked USC men's volleyball team concluded its regular season by being upset at No. 11 UC Santa Barbara, 30-27, 30-27, 36-34, in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match on Wednesday (April 11).
USC--which is headed to the MPSF tournament next week--dropped to 13-8 overall and 10-6 in the MPSF, while the Gauchos improved to 12-11 and 5-11.
The Trojans outhit UCSB, .410 to .363, but were outblocked (10.0 to 6.0) and had 21 service errors.
Sophomore middle blocker Josh Day had 11 kills while hitting .611 for USC and senior outside hitter Trevor Julian added 10 kills while hitting .316. Billings hit at a .439 clip.
The Trojans were without a pair of senior starters, middle blocker Donny Killian (who was resting a strained shoulder) and outside hitter Eli Fairfield (he quit the team last week).
For UCSB, soph outside hitter Jan Carlo Zagarra had a team-leading 14 kills and scored the match's final 2 points on a kill and ace. Junior Ben Koski added 12 kills (hitting .381), sophomore Keith Busam had 10 kills while hitting .750 and senior Wes Badorek had a match-high 6 blocks.
USC next will play in a first round MPSF tourney match on April 21 against an opponent and at a site to be determined.
