USC
Long Beach State
No. 1 USC Men's Volleyball Sweeps Long Beach State
January 14, 2011 | Men's Volleyball
Jan. 14, 2011
Murphy Troy had 12 kills, 9 digs and 5 blocks to lead the No. 1-ranked USC men's volleyball team to a quick 25-16, 25-17, 25-17 win over No. 11 Long Beach State in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match on Friday (Jan. 14) in USC's Galen Center.
The Trojans improved to 2-0 overall and 2-0 in the MPSF in the match that lasted just 67 minutes, while the 49ers dropped to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the MPSF.
USC also got 8 kills from both Tony Ciarelli, who hit .667, and Maddison McKibbin, who hit .500. Teammate Steven Shandrick added 5 blocks.
Long Beach State was led by Jim Baughman and Josh Riley, who each had 8 kills.
USC hit .444 in the match while the 49ers managed to hit just .091. The Trojans also had the edge in blocks (11.0 to 4.0), digs (31 to 18) and aces (3 to 1).
With the help of 3 consecutive early blocks, USC jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the first set and was never threatened while hitting .562 in the set and getting 6.5 blocks (LBSU hit just .062 and didn't record a block). It was more of the same in the second set as USC steadily built upon a 3-1 lead while hitting .400 (LBSU hit .071) in the set and posting 14 digs. The third set was all USC as the Trojans opened up a 5-1 margin and hit at a .423 clip.
After opening its 2011 season with a pair of home matches, USC now embarks on a 5-match road trip against MPSF competition. First up for the Trojans is a visit to No. 7 UC Irvine on Wednesday (Jan. 19) in a 6 p.m. MPSF match.
