No. 10 USC Men's Volleyball Falls to No. 7 UC Irvine in Five-Set Marathon

Wednesday, January 18

Irvine, Calif.

7:00 PM

USC

4-2,0-0MPSF

UC Irvine

4-0,0-0Big West

Southern California

UC Irvine

Photo by: Aaron Wilson

No. 10 USC Men's Volleyball Falls to No. 7 UC Irvine in Five-Set Marathon

January 18, 2023 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

Trojan setter Nate Tennant posted a double-double with 51 assists and 11 digs against the Anteaters

IRVINE, Calif. – The 10th-ranked USC men's volleyball team (4-2) was defeated in five sets (25-22, 25-27, 23-25, 25-20, 15-11) by No. 7 UC Irvine (4-0) at Bren Events Center on Wednesday, Jan. 18.

KEY PLAYERS

Fr. OH Dillon Klein reached double-digit kills in his fourth straight match and led the Trojans with 19 kills on a career-high 48 swings. He also had a career-best seven digs to go with two blocks and a service ace.
Gr. OH Kevin Kobrine put up 16.0 points with 14 kills (4e, 32att, .312) and had five digs, two blocks, and an ace.
Sr. MB Lucas Frassrand hit .391 and had 12 kills (3e) on 23 attacks with four blocks and three digs.
Jr. OPP Simon Gallas posted a career-high 12 digs and picked up eight kills and a service ace for 10.0 points.
Jr. S Nate Tennant upped his career bests to 51 assists and 11 digs to put up the first Trojan double-double of the season.
Sr. LIB George Dyer had six digs.
For the Anteaters, Francesco Sani led with 23 kills and had a double-double with 11 digs. Hilir Henno had 17 kills and Cole Gillis had 12. Joe Karlous led all players with 13 digs and had a double-double with 34 assists.

HOW IT HAPPENED

USC led by as many as four in the opening set, 14-10, but a 9-3 run by UCI put the Anteaters in front for good en route to a 25-22 win. Klein had six of his kills in the first and the Trojans served two of their five aces.
The second was tied 14 times before the Trojans came away with a 27-25 win as Frassrand put the club to five kills on just five swings. USC served two more aces and dug up 11 balls to pull even in the match.
12 ties and six lead changes in the second set went by before USC completed a 25-23 win despite a late UCI comeback bid. The Trojans hit .238 but had 15 kills and 15 digs in the third set to go on top, 2-1.
UCI maintained control of the fourth and forced set five with a 25-20 win behind six kills form Sani. USC hit .310 but committed five service errors and five hitting errors in the frame.
The Trojans led several times in the fifth, but UC Irvine had the final say in a 15-11 win to take the match. USC hit .316 in the final set but UCI got five kills from Henno to close the books.

UP NEXT

USC hosts No. 12 UC Santa Barbara (1-4) on Thursday (Jan. 19) at Galen Center in its first match at home this spring. The first 1,000 fans in attendance receive a free promotional t-shirt. Tickets are $5 for all fans at the door.

MATCH NOTES

USC falls to 42-35 all-time against UC Irvine.
The Trojans fell to 1-1 in five-set matches this season. USC defeated UC San Diego in five sets on Jan. 7.

For more information on the USC men's volleyball team and a complete schedule and results, please visit USCTrojans.com/MVB. Fans of the Trojans can follow @USCmensvolley on Twitter and Instagram.