No. 10 USC Men's Volleyball Set For Matadome Matchup with CSUN

LOS ANGELES – The No. 10 USC men's volleyball team (5-2) heads to the Matadome in Northridge, Calif., for a midweek meeting with CSUN (4-2). The Trojans and the Matadors will clash for the second time this spring when the teams take the floor on Wednesday, Jan. 25, for a 7 p.m. PT start. USC claimed its first 3-0 sweep of the season when the teams played on Jan. 6 in the ASICS Invitational and has beaten CSUN four consecutive times. The match will be shown live on ESPN+.

MATCH #8 • Wednesday, January 25 • 7 p.m. PT
No. 10 USC (5-2) at CSUN (4-2)
The Matadome • Northridge, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 51-34 (.600)
LAST MEETING: W 3-0 (Jan. 6, 2023 • Santa Barbara, Calif.)
STREAK: Won 4 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 6-4
TV/STREAM: ESPN+
OPPONENT WEBSITE: GoMatadors.com

FIRST SERVE (TL;DR)

USC is led by eighth-year head coach Jeff Nygaard, a three-time Olympian in indoor and beach volleyball and a two-time NCAA champion.
The Trojans are currently ranked 10th in the AVCA Div I-II Coaches Poll. USC is 1-2 against ranked opponents this season.
USC returns All-American OPP Simon Gallas who ranks 11th in the MPSF for points (3.24 pps) and is 15th in kills (2.52 kps).
This spring, the Trojans added All-American OH Kevin Kobrine; a grad transfer from UCLA. He was an All-MPSF choice in 2022 and follows brother Sam Kobrine who also transferred after four years at UCLA in 2021.
USC MB Lucas Frassrand returns after an All-America honorable mention campaign as a junior. His .418 hitting percentage is fourth in the MPSF.
Jr. S Nate Tennant was chosen as the Off the Block National Setter of the Week (Jan. 16) after leading USC to back-to-back 3-0 wins.

LAST TIME OUT: The Trojans went toe-to-toe with a pair of Big West foes and fought through back-to-back midweek five-setters for the split. USC had a four-match win streak stopped by seventh-ranked UC Irvine on the road but rebounded to claim a five-set victory over No. 12 UC Santa Barbara in front of a record-setting crowd for a home opener at Galen Center. Nate Tennant, Ryan Sprague, and Kevin Kobrine each logged their first double-doubles as Trojans last week and Dillon Klein led the USC attack with 19 and 20 kills in the two matches.

FOLLOW THE TROJANS: USC's home matches at Galen Center are live streamed for free on USCTrojans.com except for matches televised live by the Pac-12 Networks. Fans also can follow USC home matches through live stats with links available at USCTrojans.com.

HAPPY HOME PARADISE: After six matches away from home, the Trojans played on the Galen Center floor for the first time on Thursday, Jan. 19. USC defeated 12th-ranked UC Santa Barbara in five sets in front of a record-setting crowd of 1,508 fans in a home opener. Last season, USC went 13-1 at home.

POLL POSITION: The Trojans opened the season ranked 10th in the NVA/AVCA Coaches Poll. Following a 2-1 opening weekend, USC dropped one spot to 11th, but returned to the No. 10 spot on Jan. 16.

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Players Mentioned

Lucas Frassrand

Simon Gallas

Dillon Klein

Kevin Kobrine

Sam Kobrine

Ryan Sprague

Nate Tennant