USC Men's Volleyball Goes To CSUN, Hosts No. 5 UCI In North Gym

THE FACTS
The USC men's volleyball team (1-6 overall, 0-1 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation), looking to snap a 6-match losing skid, plays a pair of Big West teams this week: first going to Cal State Northridge (2-5, 0-0 Big West) on Friday (Jan. 31) and then hosting No. 5 UC Irvine (3-3, 0-0 Big West) in the North Gym. Both non-conference battles start at 7 p.m. PT.

FOLLOW THE TROJANS
All of USC's home matches in the Galen Center are video-streamed live for free on USCTrojans. com, except for matches televised live on Pac-12 Network. USC's online announcers are ex-Trojan player and assistant coach Mark Beltran and onetime Northeastern player/Winthrop assistant coach Paul Duchesne. Fans also can follow USC home matches through Live Stats at USCTrojans.com and all matches via Twitter (@USCmensvolley).

RANKINGS
USC and Cal State Northridge are not ranked in the current AVCA Division I-II Top 15 poll. UC Irvine is No. 5.

OPPONENTS
•USC holds a 48-34 series edge over Cal State Northridge, including a 3-2 road win in the most recent meeting in 2017.

•USC is 40-33 all-time against UC Irvine, but lost 3-1 on the road in 2019 in the most recent match. The Anteaters host Concordia on Thursday (Jan. 30) before meeting the Trojans.

NORTH GYM
USC's home match against UC Irvine on Saturday will be played in the North Gym due to a scheduling conflict in the Galen Center. The quaint 500-seat North Gym (located in USC's Physical Education Building) was the original home of the Trojan men's team. Troy played there from the team's inception in 1970 through 1988, again from 1997 to 2002 and then split time between the North Gym and Lyon Center from 2003 to 2006 before taking up residence in the Galen Center in 2007. USC last played matches in the North Gym in 2019 (a 3-1 win over Concordia, 3-0 sweep over No. 1 Long Beach State and 3-0 sweep over No. 15 Grand Canyon in an MPSF Quarterfinal match) because of a Galen Center scheduling conflict. USC head coach Jeff Nygaard, by the way, has never lost a match in USC's North Gym, as an assistant or head coach at USC (he is 13-0).

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