USC
Pepperdine
USC Men's Volleyball Starts 2-Week MPSF Road Trip With Matches At No. 7 Pepperdine And No. 8 UCLA
February 11, 2020 | Men's Volleyball, Features
THE FACTSÂ
The USC men's volleyball team (2-9 overall, 0-2 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) begins a 2-week MPSF road trip when it travels to a pair of local schools this week, first visiting No. 7 Pepperdine (4-3, 1-1 MPSF) on Friday (Feb. 14) at 7 p.m. PT and then playing at crosstown rival No. 8 UCLA (5-5, 0-2 MPSF) on Sunday at 5 p.m. PT in a match airing live on Pac-12 Network and Pac-12 Los Angeles (Crosstown Cup points will be on the line).Â
FOLLOW THE TROJANSÂ
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).Â
RANKINGSÂ
USC is unranked in the current AVCA Division I-II Top 15 poll. Pepperdine is No. 7, UCLA is No. 7.Â
OPPONENTSÂ
•USC trails in its series with Pepperdine, 68-43, and the Trojans have dropped the past 2 meetings, most recently 3-0 on the road in the 2019 MPSF Tournament final. The Waves host Concordia on Wednesday (Feb. 12) before USC visits.Â
•USC also trails in the UCLA series, 97-45, but Troy has won the last 2 matchups, including 3-1 in the 2019 MPSF Tournament semis. The Bruins host Concordia on Friday (Feb. 14) before USC visits.Â
CROSSTOWN CUPÂ
The winner of this USC-UCLA men's volleyball game scores 5 points toward the Crosstown Cup, a trophy awarded annually to the school with the most successful athletic year against the other. The competition was formerly known as the Crosstown Gauntlet. Points are awarded to the winner of each Trojan-Bruin head-to-head contest and the Crosstown Cup will be awarded to the school with the most points at year's end (100 points is the magic number). USC has won the Crosstown Cup 11 times in the competition's 18 years, including last year. Currently, UCLA leads this season's Crosstown Cup competition, 40-30 (with points still to come from the Feb. 14 USC-UCLA women's swim meet).
