No. 6 USC Men's Volleyball Moves to 7-0 with Four-Set Win Over No. 13 Ohio State

Friday, January 31

Columbus, Ohio

7:00 p.m. ET | 4:00 p.m. PT

USC

7-0,0-0MPSF

Ohio State

3-4,0-0MIVA

Southern California

Ohio St.

Photo by: Ohio State Athletics

No. 6 USC Men's Volleyball Moves to 7-0 with Four-Set Win Over No. 13 Ohio State

January 31, 2025 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

The Trojans were led by a 22-kill performance from junior outside hitter Dillon Klein

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The sixth-ranked USC men's volleyball team improved to 7-0 for the first time since 2015 with a four-set win (25-18, 29-27, 21-25, 25-20) over 13th-ranked Ohio State (3-4) at Covelli Center on Friday, Jan. 31.

KEY PLAYERS

Jr. OH Dillon Klein powered the USC offense with 23.5 points scored on a season-high 22 kills (1e, 30att) and a career-best .700 hitting to go with three blocks. It was his 45th-career match in double-digit kills. He also put up four digs on defense.
So. S Caleb Blanchette set the Trojans to a season-high .500 hitting performance with 56 kills (11e) on 90 swings. It was USC's seventh match hitting plus-.300 as Blanchette put up a season-high 49 assists to go with four digs and four blocks.
Fr. MB Parker Tomkinson reached double-digit points for the third time and finished with 12.5 earned on eight kills (4e, 14att, .286) with a match and career-high eight blocks (one solo).
Fr. OH Sterling Foley posted his second-career match in double-digit points with 10.0 scored on eight kills (1e, 14att) with a .500 hitting night. Foley also had four digs and four blocks.
Redshirt So. OPP Noah Roberts tallied eight kills (4e, 17att, .235) and had two digs and a block for 8.5 points.
Gr. MB Guy Genis racked up five kills on seven swings without an error for .714 hitting and had five blocks and an ace.
Fr. OH Christian Connell came off the bench to play sets three and four and finished with four kills and a block.
For the Buckeyes, Shane Wetzel led with 19 kills. Stanislaw Chacinski and Kyle Teune each had 12 kills apiece. Drew Hudson led all players with seven digs. Daniel Henwood Rodriguez dished out 47 assists to go with three kills.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Trojans reached .500 hitting for the first time this season but hit for over .300 for the seventh straight time. USC also reached double-digit blocks for the fifth time in seven contests and finished with 13.5 to Ohio State's 5.5.
USC hit .565 in the opening frame and got eight kills from Klein to roll to a 25-18 win. The Trojans had 15 kills and just two errors on 23 attacks and collected three blocks to keep the Buckeyes at a .125 hitting rate (9k, 6e, 24att). Roberts added four kills in set one and Foley had two. The Trojans were able to win the set despite surrendering six service errors.
Set two was tied 14 times before the Trojans went in front, 2-0, on a 29-27 win powered by seven more kills from Klein. Down by as many as three points on multiple occasions, USC hit .483 and got 19 kills (5e) on 29 attacks to take a gritty victory. The Trojans had to overcome three Ohio State set points and forced the 14th tie of the set at 27-all when Tomkinson scored down the line for his fourth kill of the set. Klein put USC up, 28-27, on the first of back-to-back kills and then tipped down the final point of the set with his left hand to seal the win.
The Buckeyes snapped an eight-set win streak by the Trojans with a 25-21 win in set three. Wetzel had six kills and Teune had five to buoy the Ohio State offense. The Trojans collected nine kills (3e) on 19 attacks and hit .316 but the Buckeyes finished with 16 kills (6e) on 26 swings for a .385 outing.
Klein was unconscionable in the fourth as he finished with six more kills on just nine swings without an error (.667). Connell had all four of his kills in the fourth as USC hit .632 (13k, 1e, 19att) as a team to close out the 25-20 win for the match victory. The Trojans put up a wall to finish the set with six blocks to help keep the Buckeyes at bay with a .233 hitting rate (15k, 8e, 30att). Chacinski had five kills and Wetzel had four to put OSU in front several times, but the Trojans broke the 10th tie of the set and took a three-point lead, 17-14, on back-to-back blocks.

UP NEXT

USC faces 17th-ranked Penn State (0-5) to close out the three-match Ohio road trip and open the month of February on Saturday (Feb. 1) at 4 p.m. ET (1 p.m. PT) at Covelli Center. The Nittany Lions were swept earlier in the day by third-ranked UCLA. The Trojans-Lions match will be shown live on Big Ten Plus (B1G+).

MATCH NOTES

USC improved to 20-9 all-time against Ohio State and snapped a five-match streak of losses to the Buckeyes.
The Trojans improved to 7-0 to start a season for the first time under 10th-year head coach Jeff Nygaard and for the first time since 2015 when the team also started the season 7-0 under Bill Ferguson.
USC's first two set victories over Ohio State had the Trojans on an eight-set win streak, the second longest of the season.
The Trojans hit a season-high .500 against the Buckeyes and have had two other matches in the .490s. USC has hit better than .300 in all seven of its matches.
USC finished with 13.5 blocks against Ohio State for its fifth match in double-digits this spring.

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.