No. 10 USC Men's Volleyball Falls to No. 7 Pepperdine in Road Sweep

Thursday, March 9

Malibu, Calif.

6:00 PM

USC

8-8, 1-4

Pepperdine

11-8, 3-2

USC

Pepperdine

Photo by: John McGillen

No. 10 USC Men's Volleyball Falls to No. 7 Pepperdine in Road Sweep

March 09, 2023 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

The Trojans got 10 kills apiece from Dillon Klein and Kyle Paulson in a loss to the Waves

MALIBU, Calif. – The 10th-ranked USC men's volleyball team (8-8, 1-4 MPSF) fell to seventh-ranked Pepperdine (11-8, 3-2 MPSF) in three sets (25-17, 25-16, 25-19) at Firestone Fieldhouse on Thursday, March 9.

KEY PLAYERS

Jr. MB Kyle Paulson had 10 kills on 11 swings without an error to hit .909 and finished with three blocks for 11.5 points. His kill total, hitting percentage, and points all set new career marks.
Fr. OH Dillon Klein tallied 10 kills to go with four digs and a block. It was his 13th match in double-digit kills and his 14th in double-digit points this season.
Sr. LIB George Dyer led the Trojans with seven digs in the match.
For the Waves, Jaylen Jasper led all players with 19 kills (7e, 33att) and hit .364 to go with five digs and three service aces. Joe Deluzio added seven kills for Pepperdine and put up five digs and a pair of aces. Bryce Dvorak had 30 assists.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Waves broke the seventh tie of the first set and took a 25-17 win. Klein logged five of his kills in the opening frame and the Trojans got four digs from Dyer but USC couldn't stop Jasper's nine-kill output as the Waves hit .500 to start.
Pepperdine hit .500 in the second and got four kills from Deluzio to earn a 25-16 win and a 2-0 lead in the match. Paulson racked up five kills on just five swings but .321 hitting wasn't enough as the Trojans dug just four balls in the second.
The Trojans mounted a late rally in set three and closed to within three points at 22-19 on a 5-0 run, but the Waves capitalized on USC errors and finished off a 25-19 win with a 3-0 run to end the match.

UP NEXT

The Trojans and the Waves meet again on Saturday (March 11) at 7 p.m. at Galen Center. The match will be shown live on the USC Live stream platform.

MATCH NOTES

USC fell to 44-74 all-time against Pepperdine and have lost to the Waves in each of the last two meetings.
The Trojans dropped to 2-8 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.