No. 13 USC Men's Volleyball Battles for Four-Set Win Over No. 14 Ball State

Friday, January 19

Austin, Texas

11:30 AM

USC

5-0,0-0MPSF

Ball State

7-3,0-0MIVA

Ball St.

Southern California

Photo by: Harrison Cho

No. 13 USC Men's Volleyball Battles for Four-Set Win Over No. 14 Ball State

January 19, 2024 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

Trojan senior MB Kyle Paulson’s career-high 15.5 points led USC to a 3-1 win over the Cardinals

AUSTIN, Texas – The 13th-ranked USC men's volleyball team (5-0) collected a four-set win (21-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-21) over No. 14 Ball State (7-3) in the first match at the First Point Collegiate Challenge at Austin Convention Center on Friday, Jan. 19. The Trojans remained undefeated on the season and moved to 5-0 for the second time (2022) under ninth-year head coach Jeff Nygaard.

KEY PLAYERS

Sr. MB Kyle Paulson had a career day with a career-high 15.5 points earned on a season-high nine kills (1e, 10att, .800) with a career-high eight blocks (one solo) and a career-high tying six digs. Paulson also had two aces and two assists.
Fr. MB Wes Smith posted career highs of 13 kills (2e) and 19 attacks while hitting .579 to go with four blocks for 15.0 points.
So. OH Dillon Klein reached double-digit kills in a match for the 23rd time in his career and finished the day with 11 kills (4e, 30att) on .233 hitting to go with seven digs, three blocks, and a service ace.
Fr. S Caleb Blanchette put up 38 assists with three digs and two blocks to set the Trojans to a .319 hitting rate, the team's fifth straight match hitting over .300.
Redshirt Jr. OPP Jack Deuchar posted nine kills and added seven digs and three blocks.
So. OH Riley Haine recorded six kills (1e, 10att, .500) with two blocks and a dig in two sets of action.
Jr. LIB Austin Stuard had six digs and put up two assists.
Redshirt Jr. OH Jackson Reed collected three kills, three blocks, and two digs.
For the Cardinals, Tinaishe Ndavazocheva put up 23 kills to lead all players (8e, 46att, .326) and added six aces, five digs, and two blocks for 30 points. Patrick Rogers added 11 kills while Lucas Machado had 46 assists and four blocks.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Trojans out-hit the Cardinals, .319 to .197, in their fifth straight match over .300 hitting. USC also out-blocked its opponent for the fifth time in five matches (15-9) and reached double-digit blocks for the third time this spring.
Haine had five of his kills in the first set, but the Ball State block was too much for the Trojans, who fell 25-21 in the opening frame. The Cardinals had six blocks and out-hit USC, .368 to 148, with four kills from Ndavazocheva.
Klein and Deuchar combined for eight kills and the Trojans put up 4.5 blocks in the second set to hold off BSU in a 25-23 win. Reed came in and collected two of his kills including the final kill of the set.
After nine ties and three lead changes, the Trojans rolled away for a 25-19 win in set three behind five kills from Smith. USC put up six blocks with four from Paulson and hit .357 to Ball State's .053 in the victory. USC led by five at 18-13 but Ndavazocheva scored three straight aces to get the Cardinals within one point before Deuchar's kill ended the run.
Smith had four more kills and Paulson added six on six attacks in set four to power USC to a 25-21 win to seal the match. The Trojans hit .414 with just one hitting error on 29 swings and outpaced a BSU attack that had 15 kills but hit just .176 thanks in part to 3.5 USC blocks.

UP NEXT

The Trojans take on No. 4 Ohio State (4-0) at 1:30 p.m. CT (11:30 a.m. PT) at Austin Convention Center on Saturday, Jan. 20, to wrap up play at the First Point Collegiate Challenge. The match will be shown live on FloVolleyball.

MATCH NOTES

USC improved to 9-2 all-time against Ball State, a team it last faced in 2003.
The Trojans recorded a higher hitting percentage and collected more blocks than their opponent for the fifth time.
USC reached double-digit blocks (15.0) for the third time this season.
The Trojans start the season 5-0 for the second time under ninth-year head coach Jeff Nygaard. USC was also 5-0 to start the 2022 season.

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.