No. 11 USC Men's Volleyball Drops Four-Set Decision to No. 4 Long Beach State

Saturday, March 25

Los Angeles, Calif.

7:00 PM

USC

8-11,1-5MPSF

Long Beach State

14-3,3-1Big West

Long Beach St.

Southern California

Photo by: Yannick Peterhans

No. 11 USC Men's Volleyball Drops Four-Set Decision to No. 4 Long Beach State

March 25, 2023 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

The Trojans got 12 kills from Simon Gallas and 11 from Dillon Klein in a loss to the Beach

LOS ANGELES – The 11th-ranked USC men's volleyball team (8-11, 1-5 MPSF) was defeated in four sets (25-13, 14-25, 27-25, 25-21) by fourth-ranked Long Beach State (14-3, 3-1 Big West) at Galen Center on Saturday, March 25.

KEY PLAYERS

Sr. OPP Simon Gallas had a team-high 12 kills to go with six digs, four blocks and a service ace. It was his 10th match in double-digit kills and his 14th in double-digit points this season.
Jr. S Nate Tennant dished out 29 assists with a career-high 15 digs to log his second-career double-double. He also added three kills on five swings (.400) and had three blocks.
Fr. OH Dillon Klein scored 11 kills (4e, 30att) and hit .233 with four digs, four blocks, and a service ace. It was his 15th time in double-digit kills and his 16th time in double-digit points.
Gr. OH Kevin Kobrine added eight kills (2e, 23att, .261) with eight digs and three blocks (one solo) for his 13th match in double-digit points this spring.
Sr. MB Lucas Frassrand led all players with seven blocks and added five kills, three digs, and a pair of service aces.
For The Beach, Sotiris Siapanis tallied 15 kills on 36 swings to hit .222 and had 10 digs for the double-double. Clarke Godbold also had 15 kills and hit .289 to go with three blocks and eight digs. Aidan Knipe had 36 assists and nine digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

A 10-0 run in the opening set put the Beach out of reach at 23-10. The Trojans racked up 14 digs, but Long Beach State hit .323 with 13 kills (3e) on 31 swings to roll to a 25-13 win.
The Trojans faced four ties but never trailed in the second set on the way to a 25-14 win to even the match. USC put up three blocks to hold LBSU to a .115 hitting rate with just seven kills. The Trojans hit .455 and led by as many as 10 points with four kills from Gallas to lead the way. In all, USC recorded 12 kills (2e) on 22 attacks in the second.
Long Beach State weathered away four late ties in the third set to take a 27-25 win and a 2-1 lead. The Beach hit .368 with 18 kills (4e) on 38 swings over the Trojans' 12 kills and .243 hitting. Klein picked up six of his kills in the third frame.
Gallas had five more kills in the fourth set and Kobrine added three. The Trojans put up 6.5 blocks but dropped a 25-21 final to the Beach despite hitting .250 to LBSU's .179. Long Beach State collected four service aces and the Trojans had five service errors to make all the difference in the final frame.

UP NEXT

The Trojans are back in action for two conference matches on the road at eighth-ranked BYU (14-6, 4-4 MPSF). USC meets the Cougars at Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, Utah, on Thursday (March 30) and Friday (March 31) for matches at 7 p.m. MT (6 p.m. PT) both nights and set to be shown live on BYU TV.

MATCH NOTES

USC fell to 62-58 all-time against Long Beach State and lost to LBSU for the fourth straight time.
The Trojans dropped to 2-11 in matches against AVCA ranked opponents this spring.

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.