No. 12 USC Men's Volleyball Falls to No. 8 Ohio State in Four

Friday, March 8

Los Angeles, Calif.

7:00 PM

USC

11-9,2-4MPSF

Ohio State

15-4,8-2MIVA

Ohio St.

Southern California

Photo by: Drake Lee

No. 12 USC Men's Volleyball Falls to No. 8 Ohio State in Four

March 08, 2024 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

The Trojans got 17 kills from Dillon Klein and 13 from Jack Deuchar in a four-set loss to the Buckeyes

LOS ANGELES – The 12th-ranked USC men's volleyball team (11-9) fell to eighth-ranked Ohio State (15-4) in four sets, 22-25, 25-11, 25-23, 25-20, in the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge at the Galen Center Pavilion on Friday, March 8.

KEY PLAYERS

Redshirt Jr. OPP Jack Deuchar put up 13 kills for his 12th match in double digits and had one dig.
Fr. setter Caleb Blanchette recorded 38 assists to go with four digs and a service ace.
So. OH Dillon Klein collected 17 kills (7e, 28att) and hit .357 as he notched double-digit kills for the 35th time in his career. He also had five digs, two blocks, two assists, and a service ace.
Fr. MB Wesley Smith recorded six kills with two digs and a block.
Jr. LIB Austin Stuard put up four digs in the first two sets. Redshirt Sr. OH Jackson Reed wore the libero jersey for the third and fourth sets and posted six digs for the Trojans.
For the Buckeyes, Jacob Pasteur led with 15 kills on .333 hitting and had five digs and four blocks (one solo). Shane Wetzel posted 11 kills with .304 hitting and had four blocks. Kyle Teune had 11 kills on .529 hitting.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Trojans had the edge in digs, 28-27, and assists, 44-41. Ohio State had more kills, 48-47, and put up one more service ace than USC, 6-5. The Buckeyes also outhit the Trojans, .387 to .223.
Klein delivered five kills and helped the Trojans hit .269 in a 25-22 first-set win. The Trojans totaled 13 kills and picked up 10 digs to help hold the Buckeyes to a .130 percentage with eight kills (5e) on 23 swings. Deuchar had four of his kills and Smith tallied three kills in the opening frame.
Ohio State put up 4.5 blocks and held the Trojans to a negative .050 hitting percentage to even the match on a 25-11 win in set two. The Trojans had just five kills in the second.
After 10 ties and three lead changes, the Buckeyes wiped out a five-point hole to claim a 25-23 win in set three and took a 2-1 lead. Deuchar racked up eight kills to lead the Trojan offense while Klein added five. Reed dug up four balls, but Ohio State hit .684 with 13 kills on 19 attacks without an error to secure the win.
The Buckeyes led for most of the fourth, but the Trojans trimmed the deficit to just two points late in the set, 22-20, before Ohio State closed out a 25-20 win to claim the match. Klein added six more kills in set four, but Pasteur had five and helped lead the Buckeyes to .308 hitting in the final set.

UP NEXT

USC resumes MPSF play when it heads to Malibu to take on 10th-ranked Pepperdine on Thursday, March 14, at Firestone Fieldhouse. The Trojans and the Waves will meet for a 6 p.m. PT match.

MATCH NOTES

USC fell to 19-9 all-time against Ohio State and lost to the Buckeyes for the fifth straight time.
The Trojans fell to 4-8 in matches with AVCA top 20 opponents this 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.