No. 5 USC Men's Volleyball Grabs Second Sweep of Vanguard

Friday, February 28

Los Angeles, Calif.

7:00 p.m. PT

USC

11-2,2-0MPSF

Vanguard

3-8,0-2MPSF

Vanguard

Southern California

Photo by: Drake Lee

No. 5 USC Men's Volleyball Grabs Second Sweep of Vanguard

February 28, 2025 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

Sterling Foley recorded his first-career double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs against the Lions

LOS ANGELES – The No. 5 USC men's volleyball team (11-2, 2-0 MPSF) racked up a second sweep (25-17, 25-16, 25-23) of Vanguard (3-8, 0-2) at Galen Center on Friday, Feb. 28.

KEY PLAYERS

Jr. OH Dillon Klein scored 11 kills (2e) on 24 attacks to hit .375 and had seven digs and two blocks for 12.0 points. It was his ninth time this season and his 50th-career match in double-digit kills.
Fr. OH Sterling Foley reached double-digit kills for the fourth time this spring and finished with 11 (1e, 19att) for .526 hitting. Foley also had 10 digs to produce his first-career double-double and added two blocks and a service ace.
So. S Caleb Blanchette dished out 36 assists to go with five digs, two kills, and a block. He led the Trojans to their 12th match with over .300 hitting.
Fr. OH Christian Connell recorded 10 kills (4e, 21att, .286) for his second match in double-digits and added a career-high four blocks (one solo), three digs, and a service ace.
Fr. LIB Johnny Dykstra matched his career high with 15 digs and added a pair of assists.
Sr. MB Markus Olsson scored season highs of six kills on 10 swings (.600) and had three blocks and a dig.
Fr. MB Parker Tomkinson had four kills on four attacks (1.000) with three blocks.
For the Lions, Phinehas Wiley led with eight kills and had four digs. Logan Freemon had seven kills and four digs. Sean Nguyen had 14 assists and served three aces to go with six digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

USC hit .447 in the match with 45 kills (7e) on 85 attempts to log the team's 12th match over .300 this season. The Trojans finished with more kills (45-30), assists (40-28), digs (42-28), and blocks (9.0-1.0).
The Trojans hit .750 in the opening frame with 17 kills (2e) on just 20 swings to take a 25-17 win. Klein, Tomkinson, and Olsson each tagged four balls for kills to keep the Trojans in front the whole way. USC dug up six balls and had two blocks to hold the Lions to a .190 hitting rate with nine kills (5e, 21att).
Foley ran the feedback loop to pour in six kills and five digs to go with a block in set two to help the Trojans take a 2-0 lead on a 25-16 win. Connell added five kills and had USC's only service ace in the frame. The Trojans totaled four blocks and held the Lions to a .091 hitting rate with seven kills (4e) on 33 attacks.
USC put up three more blocks in the third set and out-hit the Lions, .306 (12k, 1e, 36att) to .167 (14k, 7e, 42att). The Trojans had to fight through eight ties and a pair of lead changes and had to buy a vowel to get a 25-23 win for the sweep. Klein added four more kills and Connell had three and a pair of blocks. Dykstra grabbed a power-up mushroom and picked up eight of his digs in the third set alone.

UP NEXT

USC hits the road to take on sixth-ranked BYU (12-4, 2-0 MPSF) in a pair of matches at Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, Utah. The teams will lock up on Friday (March 7) and Saturday (March 8) in contests set to start at 6 p.m. MT (5 p.m. PT) that will be shown live on Big Ten Plus (B1G+).

MATCH NOTES

USC improved to 3-0 all-time against Vanguard and swept the season series over the Lions.
The Trojans hit north of .300 for the 12th time in 13 matches this spring.
USC improved to 6-1 in home matches.

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.