No. 11 USC Men's Volleyball Falls to No. 4 UCLA in Four

Saturday, March 2

Los Angeles, Calif.

5:00 PM

USC

10-8,2-4MPSF

UCLA

14-4,5-1MPSF

Southern California

UCLA

No. 11 USC Men's Volleyball Falls to No. 4 UCLA in Four

March 02, 2024 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

Riley Haine led scoring for the Trojans with 11 kills

LOS ANGELES – The 11th-ranked USC men's volleyball team (10-8, 2-4 MPSF) fell to No. 4 UCLA (14-4, 5-1) in four sets (26-24, 23-25, 25-17, 25-21) at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday, March 2.

KEY PLAYERS

So. OH Riley Haine reached double-digit kills for the sixth time this season with 11 (4e, 21att, .333) and recorded one service ace, one dig, and three blocks.
Sr. MB Kyle Paulson recorded seven blocks (four solo) and five kills (2e, 11att, .273).
Redshirt Jr. OPP Jack Deuchar had nine kills, one ace, and two digs.
Zach Rama led in scoring for the Bruins with 16 kills. Grant Sloane also had double-digit kills for the Bruins with 13, and Merrick McHenry had nine digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Both teams went back-and-forth to start off, but UCLA pulled ahead with two 4-0 runs, paused briefly by a Paulson kill, 9-6. The Bruins held the lead, 19-15, before the Trojans brought it within two with kills from Haine and Deuchar (21-19). Paulson registered back-to-back blocks to narrow the lead, 22-21, and kills from Smith and Klein tied up the score, 23-all. The Bruins won the first set, 26-24, and out-hit the Trojans .536 to .292. Deuchar had five kills and Haine had four.
USC tied the match up with a second set victory, 25-23. After exchanging service errors and 3-0 runs to start the set, USC went on a 4-0 run with kills from Haine and Klein (10-7). The Trojans maintained their lead into the set and went on another 3-0 run to go up six, 16-10. The Bruins tried to close the gap with a 3-0 run of their own, but kills from Klein held USC's lead at four points (23-19). The Trojans secured the second set, and Haine totaled six kills to end the set.
UCLA took an early lead in set three with a 3-0 run (7-4). The Bruins extended their lead to five with back-to-back kills from Luca Curci, 10-5. USC was unable to bring the game closer to within four, and UCLA took the third set, 25-17. The Bruins out-hit the Trojans .588 to .238.
Set four was a rubber match with neither team having a lead greater than one point (14-14). UCLA went on a 6-0 run with back-to-back blocks from Rama and Guy Genis (20-15). A kill by Deuchar stopped the Bruin run and started a 3-0 Trojan run, 20-18. UCLA persisted, holding their lead and taking the fourth set, 25-21.

UP NEXT

The Trojans stay in town next week for the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge with matches against Penn State (12-4) on Wednesday (March 6) and Ohio State (14-4) on Friday (March 8).
USC will also host UCLA vs. Penn State on Friday (March 8). All three matches will be played in the Galen Center Pavilion on the second floor of the Galen Center.
USC-Penn State and USC-Ohio State will be streamed on USC's livestream platform on both days.

MATCH NOTES

USC fell to 46-106 all-time against UCLA as the Bruins extended to an eight-match win streak over the Trojans.

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.