No. 13 USC Men's Volleyball Concludes Regular Season with Concordia

LOS ANGELES – The 13th-ranked USC men's volleyball team (8-15, 1-9 MPSF) makes a final push for seeding in the upcoming MPSF tournament when it battles Concordia (8-16, 2-8) in its last two regular-season matches. The Trojans are on an eight-match losing streak but have beaten CUI in four straight. Though the fifth seed is out of reach, two wins would lock USC into the No. 6 seed for the tourney, but a split or a pair of losses to Concordia would relegate the Trojans to the seventh seed. The same would apply to the Trojans' regular season finish in the MPSF standings. USC heads to Irvine for a match-up on Thursday night (April 13) and then hosts Concordia for the regular-season finale at Galen Center on Saturday night (April 15) with SENIOR NIGHT festivities to follow the match.

THIS WEEK
No. 13 USC (8-15, 1-9 MPSF) vs. Concordia (8-16, 2-8 MPSF)

MATCH #24 • Thursday, April 13 • 7 p.m. PT
CU Arena • Irvine, Calif.
TV: Stretch Live

MATCH #25 • Saturday, April 15 • 7 p.m. PT
Galen Center • Los Angeles, Calif.
TV: USC Live Stream (Chas Messman)

SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 12-6 (.667)
LAST MEETING: W 3-0 (April 20, 2022 • Los Angeles, Calif.)
STREAK: Won 4 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 6-4
OPPONENT WEBSITE: CUIEagles.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 13th in the AVCA Div I-II Coaches Poll. USC has played 17 matches (of 23) against ranked opponents this season.
USC can lock up the No. 6 seed for the upcoming MPSF tournament with two wins in its final regular-season matches. A split or two losses to Concordia would make the Trojans the seventh seed.
Freshman OH Dillon Klein leads the Trojans in kills (3.56 kps) and points (4.06pps) with 19 matches in double-digit points.
All-American OPP Simon Gallas ranks 10th in the MPSF for points (3.35 pps) and is 12th with 2.73 kills per set this spring.
All-American OH Kevin Kobrine--a grad transfer from UCLA--follows brother Sam Kobrine who also transferred after four years at UCLA in 2021. Kobrine is third on the team with 2.38 kps and 2.85 pps.
MB Lucas Frassrand returns after an All-America honorable mention campaign as a junior. His 0.88 blocks per set rank fifth in the MPSF.
MB Kyle Paulson leads the team in blocks (third in the MPSF ) with 1.03 bps and ranks 15th nationally.

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.

LAST TIME OUT: The Trojans took a pair of straight-set losses to No. 2-ranked crosstown rival UCLA and had their streak of losses extended to a season-long eight matches. Dillon Klein scored 10 points to lead USC in the first of two matches and secured his 19th match in double-digit points.

HAPPY HOME PARADISE: After opening the season with six road matches, the Trojans played at Galen Center 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 and held that position for three straight weeks. The Trojans are ranked 13th in the latest coaches' poll.

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Players Mentioned

Lucas Frassrand

Simon Gallas

Dillon Klein

Kevin Kobrine

Sam Kobrine

Kyle Paulson