No. 6 USC Men's Volleyball Wins 900th in Sweep of Central State

Wednesday, January 29

Wilberforce, Ohio

5:00 p.m. ET | 2:00 p.m. PT

USC

6-0,0-0MPSF

Central State

0-4,0-0SIAC

Central St. (OH)

Southern California

USC men's volleyball junior setter Ryan Sprague puts up a quick-set for freshman middle blocker Parker Tomkinson during a match at Galen Center against Emmanuel.

Photo by: Drake Lee

No. 6 USC Men's Volleyball Wins 900th in Sweep of Central State

January 29, 2025 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score

The Trojans start the season 6-0 for the first time since 2015

WILBERFORCE, Ohio – The sixth-ranked USC men's volleyball team (6-0) defeated Central State (0-4) in a straight-set sweep (25-11, 25-15, 25-14) at Beacom/Lewis Center on Wednesday, Jan. 29. The win moves the Trojans to 6-0 to start a season for the first time since 2015 and is the 900th win in program history.

KEY PLAYERS

Fr. OH Christian Connell led the Trojan attack with eight kills (0e, 18att) on .444 hitting and had four digs and three blocks.
Redshirt So. OPP Noah Roberts scored 10.0 points with seven kills (0e, 9att) and .778 hitting to go with six digs, four blocks and one of the team's three service aces.
Fr. OH Sterling Foley had five kills (1e, 8att, .500) to go with one dig in just two sets of action.
So. S Caleb Blanchette helped set the Trojans to a .493 hitting match—their sixth over .300—and finished with 14 assists.
Jr. S Ryan Sprague had 22 assists and added four digs, one block, and one service ace.
Redshirt So. OH Riley Haine collected a season-high four kills (0e, 5att) for .800 hitting and picked up six digs.
For the Marauders, Toulmin Williams IV led with eight kills (2e, 15att, .400) and five digs. Tyrone Sands had seven kills and led CSU with four blocks to go with three digs. Alain Tamo-Noche had four kills and three blocks.

HOW IT HAPPENED

USC out-hit Central State, .493 to .127 and finished with the edge in kills (44-26), assists (38-26), digs (32-21), and blocks (9-6), and had the advantage at the service line with three aces to none. The Trojans have hit over .300 in all six matches.
The Trojans hit .609 in set one and rolled away with a 25-11 win. Roberts led the team with five kills on six swings and had five digs through just 36 rallies. Jr. OH Dillon Klein added four kills and Foley had three. USC put up two blocks to help hold the Marauders to a .000 hitting rate with five kills (5e) on 21 swings.
USC scored 18.0 points in a 25-15 win to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Connell had three of his kills while OPP Luke Hobus and MB Tyler Robinson each scored two kills apiece. The Trojans hit .565 in the frame with 13 kills on 23 swings without an error. USC also put up four blocks despite a Marauder attack that had 14 kills to hold CSU to a .226 hitting rate.
Haine, Hobus, and Connell each scored four kills apiece in set three while Sprague set USC to .345 hitting with 15 assists for a 25-14 win to close out the sweep. Haine also had four of his digs in the set while Austin Stuard, Sprague, and Connell each picked up three for a 15-6 USC edge in digs. Two more Trojan blocks kept the Marauder attack at bay with a .111 hitting percentage on 27 swings (7k, 4e).

UP NEXT

USC takes on a pair of ranked opponents in the Big Ten Challenge at Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio—the site of the 2025 NCAA championship—this weekend. The Trojans face 13th-ranked Ohio State (3-3) on Friday (Jan. 31) at 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT) and then meet No. 17 Penn State (0-4) on Saturday (Feb. 1) at 4 p.m. ET (1 p.m. PT). Both matches will be shown live on Big Ten Plus streams.

MATCH NOTES

USC improved to 2-0 in meetings with Central State. The Trojans faced the HBCU squad for the first time and swept the Marauders at Galen Center on Jan. 25, 2024.
The Trojans improved to 6-0 for the first time under 10th-year head coach Jeff Nygaard and for the first time since 2015 when the team started the season 7-0 under Bill Ferguson.
USC has now won six straight sets—the season's second-longest streak behind a 12-set streak between Jan. 9-18.
The Trojans' sweep of Central State secures the program's 900th all-time win. USC improves to 900-626 all-time.

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 Facebook, X, and Instagram.