USC Men's Volleyball Opens 2022 Season Against No. 11 UC Santa Barbara and No. 10 UC San Diego

THIS WEEK
The USC men's volleyball team opens the 2022 season by taking on No. 11 UC Santa Barbara on Thursday (Jan. 6) at 3 p.m., and No. 10 UC San Diego on Friday (Jan. 7) at 3 p.m. at the Asics Invitational hosted by the Gauchos in Santa Barbara, Calif.

The Trojans were also originally scheduled to play CSUN, but due to COVID-19 protocols, the Matadors will be unable to compete in the tournament.

The Gauchos finished the 2021 season ranked No. 3 going 16-5. They were the Big West Champions and reached the NCAA Semifinals, where they lost to Hawai'i (the 2021 National Champion).

The Tritons concluded the 2021 season going 5-13 and ranked No. 11. They lost to UC Santa Barbara in the Big West Conference Championship.

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).

Live streaming and stat links for away matches can be found at USCTrojans.com.

RANKINGS
USC is not ranked in the current AVCA Division I-II Top 15 poll. UC Santa Barbara is No. 11 and UC San Diego is No. 10.

OPPONENTS
USC is neck and neck in its series with UC Santa Barbara, holding 55-56 record, going 1-3 in their last four encounters dating back to 2017.

The Trojans are 44-11 all-time against the UC San Diego Tritons, going 1-3 in their last four meetings dating back to 2016.

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