University Southern California Trojans
USC
1-8,1-6
UC Irvine
3-7,2-6
No. 11 UC Irvine Men's Volleyball Defeats USC
February 05, 2016 | Men's Volleyball
Karl Apfelbach and Kyle Russell each had 16 kills to lead the No. 11-ranked UC Irvine men's volleyball team to a 26-24, 22-25, 25-18, 25-18 victory over unranked USC in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match on Friday (Feb. 5) at Irvine.
UC Irvine improved to 3-7 overall and 2-6 in the MPSF, while USC fell to 1-8 overall and 1-6 in the MPSF.
Jon Rivera and Lucas Yoder topped USC with 13 kills apiece, with Rivera adding 7 digs and Yoder getting 6 digs. Andy Benesh had 8 kills while hitting .400.
Apfelbach hit .500 and had 5 blocks for the Anteaters, while Russell hit .393 and had 3 aces. Tucker Pikula added 12 kills (hitting .524) and 8 digs, Jason Agopian had 11 kills while hitting .625, Marty Ross had 8 blocks and David Parker had 7 digs.
UCI hit .457 to USC's .274 and the Anteaters had 11.0 blocks (Troy had 3.0).
The first set see-sawed throughout until a Trojan service error and then a USC overpass gave UCI the set's final 2 points (both teams' hitting was on fire in the set, with the Anteaters at .600 and USC at .560). The second set also was tight throughout until Troy scored 4 of the set's final 5 points. UCI used a 3-0 run to build an 18-13 lead in the third set and held on the rest of the way while hitting .581 (with just 1 error in 31 swings). The Anteaters scored 4 consecutive points to move ahead, 17-13, in the fourth set and were able to close out the match while hitting .389.
Next up for USC is an MPSF match on Saturday (Feb. 6) at UC San Diego at 7 p.m. PT.
