No. 11 USC Men's Volleyball Welcomes Matadors and Marauders

LOS ANGELES – 11th-ranked USC men's volleyball (5-1) looks to bounce back from its first loss of the season when the Trojans welcome No. 18 CSUN (3-3) and Central State (0-6) to Galen Center for a pair of midweek matchups. The Trojans take on the Matadors on Wednesday (Jan. 24) at 7 p.m. on Pac-12 Los Angeles and then lock up with the Marauders for the first time on Thursday (Jan. 25). The USC-Central State match is set for a 7 p.m. start and will be shown live on the USC Live Stream platform. The Men of Troy are undefeated in four matches at Galen Center this spring and will play four of the next six contests on their home floor.

THIS WEEK
Galen Center • Los Angeles, Calif.

MATCH #7 • Wednesday, Jan. 24 • 7 p.m. PT
No. 11 USC (5-1) vs. No. 18 CSUN (3-3)
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 52-34 (.605)
LAST MEETING: W 3-1 (Jan. 25, 2023 • Northridge, Calif.)
STREAK: Won 5 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 7-3
OPPONENT WEBSITE: GoMatadors.com

MATCH #8 • Thursday, Jan. 25 • 7 p.m. PT
No. 11 USC (5-1) vs. Central State (0-6)
SERIES RECORD: First meeting
OPPONENT WEBSITE: MarauderSports.com

FIRST SERVE (TL;DR)

USC is led by ninth-year head coach Jeff Nygaard, a three-time Olympian in indoor and beach volleyball and a two-time NCAA champion.
The Trojans are ranked 11th, a season high, in the AVCA/NVA Coaches Poll. This year's poll is expanded to include 20 teams for the first time.
Sr. MB Kyle Paulson was chosen as the MPSF Defensive Player of the Week and the Off the Block National Middle Attacker of the Week on Jan. 22.
The Trojans have reached double-digit blocks in four straight matches.
USC has out-hit and out-blocked its opponent in all six of its matches. The Trojans' 3.00 blocks per set leads the MPSF and ranks fourth nationally. USC's .371 hitting percentage is sixth highest in the NCAA.
Central State represents the third HBCU that USC will face this spring. The Trojans opened the season with matches against Fort Valley State and Morehouse College.
Jr. OPP Luke Hobus will line up on the opposite side of the net from older brother Kyle Hobus when the Trojans meet the Matadors. Kyle is a fifth-year OH at CSUN.
Freshmen Wesley Smith (MB), Jakobi Lange (OH), Jack Ebertin (OH), Brad Pan (LIB), and transfer Josh Friedman (S) were rated the No. 1 recruiting class by VolleyballMag.com. Smith was the No. 1-ranked individual player.
Fr. S Caleb Blanchette signed to be a part of the Trojans' 2025 freshman class in November, but completed high school requirements and reclassified to join USC's 2024 class in time to compete in the spring.
Jeff Nygaard--a 2020 inductee to the Southern California Indoor Volleyball Hall of Fame--will also be inducted into the USAV Hall of Fame in 2024.

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

LAST TIME OUT: USC extended its season-opening win streak to five matches—to equal the best start under ninth-year head coach Jeff Nygaard in 2022—with a four-set victory over No. 14 Ball State at the First Point Collegiate Challenge in Austin, Texas. The win was the first over a ranked opponent for the Trojans and the first away from home. USC was led by a 15.5-point performance from senior MB Kyle Paulson who set a new career high with eight blocks and added nine kills and two service aces in the win. Freshman MB Wesley Smith also set career marks with 13 kills on 19 attacks against the Cardinals. A day later, Paulson broke his own personal record with 10 blocks in a five-set loss to No. 4 Ohio State. The double-digit outburst by Paulson was the first by a Trojan since Sam Lewis had 11 blocks in a match against Penn State in 2018. The loss to the Buckeyes was the first of the season by the Trojans. Ohio State went 2-0 at the tournament and moved up seize the No. 1 ranking in the subsequent AVCA coaches poll.

HAPPY HOME PARADISE: USC opened the season with four straight matches at home. The Trojans hosted HBCUs Fort Valley State and Morehouse College and then welcomed Harvard and Lincoln Memorial. In all, USC plays 15 of its 26 regular season matches at Galen Center and hosts both the SIAC Tournament to open the spring and the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge in March. The Trojans' home arena will also serve as host to the 2024 MPSF Tournament, April 17-20.

POLL POSITION: The Trojans were ranked No. 12 in the AVCA/NVA Preseason Coaches Poll. 2024 marks the expansion of the poll to 20 teams (previously 15). USC is currently ranked No. 11 in the Jan. 22 poll, its highest position this season.

KP FOR DPOW: MB Kyle Paulson collected his first-career MPSF Defensive Player of the Week award on Jan. 22 following a stellar performance at the First Point Collegiate Challenge. He was also chosen as the Off the Block National Middle Attacker of the Week. Paulson upped his career high on back-to-back nights with eight blocks against 14th-ranked Ball State and then 10 against fourth-ranked Ohio State. He also added nine kills and two aces in the win over the Cardinals for a career-high 15.5 points. Paulson is the first Trojan to earn the MPSF's weekly award since OH Dillon Klein was named for the offensive award in 2023 (Apr. 17).

BIG BLOCK ENERGY: The Trojans' 3.00 blocks per set leads the MPSF and ranks fourth in the nation. USC has produced four straight matches in double-digit blocks through six contests and set a season-high mark with 15.5 blocks against No. 4 Ohio State on Jan. 20. In each of the four matches, USC has progressively finished with a higher total. The Trojans had 12.5 against Harvard (Jan. 11) followed by 13.0 against Lincoln Memorial (Jan. 13) and then put up 15.0 against Ball State (Jan. 19) before the 15.5 against the Buckeyes.

GREATEST HITS: USC has hit better than its opponent in all six of the Trojans' contests this spring. In fact, USC has hit .308 or better in each match and had a season-high .614 hitting percentage in a win over Morehouse College on Jan. 6.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Caleb Blanchette

Jack Ebertin

Josh Friedman

Luke Hobus

Dillon Klein

Jakobi Lange

Brad Pan

Kyle Paulson

Wesley Smith