No. 5 USC Men's Volleyball Falls to No. 2 UC Irvine

Friday, February 14

Los Angeles, Calif.

7:00 p.m. PT

USC

9-2,0-0MPSF

UC Irvine

10-0,0-0Big West

UC Irvine

Southern California

Photo by: Drake Lee

No. 5 USC Men's Volleyball Falls to No. 2 UC Irvine

February 14, 2025 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

Jack Deuchar led the Trojans with 18 kills in a loss to the Anteaters

LOS ANGELES – The No. 5 USC men's volleyball team (9-2) was swept (25-18, 25-22, 25-21) by No. 2 UC Irvine (10-0) at Galen Center on Valentine's Night, Friday, Feb. 14.

KEY PLAYERS

Redshirt Sr. OPP Jack Deuchar set another season high with 18 kills (7e, 35att) on .314 hitting and led all players with 18.5 points to go with five digs, two assists and a block.
Jr. OH Dillon Klein scored 11 kills for his 48th-career match in double digits.
So. S Caleb Blanchette dished out 35 assists and had two kills, a dig and a block.
Fr. LIB Johnny Dykstra had nine digs and an assist.
For the Anteaters, Nolan Flexen led with 14 kills to go with five digs. Hilir Henno scored 13 kills on .571 hitting with three digs and three blocks (one solo). Andon Kiriakou had eight kills with five digs and a service ace. Joe Karlous put up 39 assists and had four digs, two blocks and a service ace.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Deuchar overpowered the Anteater block for a banquet feast eight kills in the first set and hit .700 (1e) on 10 swings. UC Irvine got 17 kills (2e, 30att) on .500 hitting to wrap a 25-18 win. USC hit .375 and put up two blocks in the opening frame.
Henno led all players with five kills in a set-two winner, 25-22, for a 2-0 Anteater lead in the match. UC Irvine had 12 kills and hit .320 in the second but held the Trojans to a .097 attack rate (11k, 8e) on 31 swings.
The teams traded barbs to 10 ties in the third, but UCI broke the treaty to top off the sweep on a 25-21 win. Henno and Flexen both had five kills apiece to help the Anteaters hit .312 in the closing set. The Trojans got seven from Deuchar while Klein had four kills and Riley Haine added three to help USC hit .205. Dykstra had six of his digs in the third set.

UP NEXT

USC opens league play with a short trip to Costa Mesa to take on MPSF newcomer Vanguard (2-4) on Wednesday (Feb. 26). The Trojans and the Lions will meet at the Freed Center for Leadership for a 7 p.m. PT match that will be shown live on Big Ten Plus (B1G+).

MATCH NOTES

USC fell to 43-38 all-time against UC Irvine.
The Trojans suffered their first home loss of the season (5-1) and were swept at home for the first time since a straight-set loss to No. 1 UCLA on April 18, 2024.

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.