No. 5 USC Men's Volleyball Closes Regular Season with No. 2 UCLA

LOS ANGELES – The fifth-ranked USC men's volleyball team (19-5, 7-3 MPSF) closes the regular season with a home-and-home against crosstown rival No. 2 UCLA (19-4, 9-1). Much is at stake in the Battle of LA as teams jockey for seeding in the MPSF tournament set to be played in Malibu next week. Two wins would put the Trojans atop the MPSF standings alongside the Bruins, but a scenario exists in which four teams finish with 7-5 records in league play. USC looks to snap a nine-match streak of losses to its crosstown rival when the two meet on Thursday night (April 17) at Pauley Pavilion. The match will be a historic television first as the feature event on Big Ten Network with a 7:30 p.m. PT start. The teams then meet again on Saturday (April 19) for a 5 p.m. tilt at Galen Center that will be shown on Big Ten Plus (B1G+). Each match will be the home team's Senior Night.

THIS WEEK
No. 5 USC (19-5, 7-3 MPSF) vs. No. 2 UCLA (19-4, 9-1 MPSF)

MATCH #25 • Thursday, April 17 • 7:30 p.m. PT
Pauley Pavilion • Los Angeles, Calif.
TV: Big Ten Network (Kevin Barnett & Camryn Irwin)

MATCH #26 • Saturday, April 19 • 5 p.m. PT
Galen Center • Los Angeles, Calif.
TV/STREAM: B1G+ (Thomas Johnson & Scott Hills)

SERIES RECORD: USC trails, 46-107 (.301)
LAST MEETING: L 3-0 (April 18, 2024 • Galen Center)
STREAK: Lost 9 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 1-9
OPPONENT WEBSITE: UCLABruins.com

FIRST SERVE (TL;DR)

USC is led by 10th-year head coach Jeff Nygaard, a three-time Olympian in indoor and beach volleyball and a two-time NCAA champion.
The Trojans are ranked fifth in the AVCA Coaches Poll.
USC leads the NCAA in kills (13.49 kps), assists (12.55 aps), and blocks (2.77 bps) and is second in the MPSF (4th NCAA) in hitting percentage (.355).
The Trojans have reached double-digit blocks in 13 of their 24 matches.
USC has collected 12 wins over ranked opponents including road wins over No. 6 BYU (twice) and a win at No. 3 Hawai'i.
Gr. MB Guy Genis faces his former team when USC-UCLA meet this week. Genis won two NCAA titles with the Bruins in 2023 and 2024.
Jr. OH Dillon Klein has reached double-digit kills in 17 matches and has had 58 double-digit matches in his career. His 3.97 kills per set rank second in the MPSF (12th, NCAA) and he is third in points at 4.53 pps (17th, NCAA).
So. S Caleb Blanchette leads the NCAA in assists (10.88 aps).
Fr. LIB Johnny Dykstra leads the MPSF in digs (2.30 dps), 13th in the NCAA.
Fr. MB Parker Tomkinson leads the MPSF in blocks (10th, NCAA) with 1.12 bps. Gr. MB Guy Genis is fifth in the MPSF in blocks (1.03 bps, 17th in the NCAA).

LAST TIME OUT: USC faced 13th-ranked Stanford with a depleted lineup and was defeated twice by the Cardinal; once in a narrow five-set decision and a second time in a close four-set battle. The Trojans were without starting OPP Jack Deuchar and backup OPP Noah Roberts for both contests and played with injured OH Dillon Klein in the first meeting but sat the all-world OH in the second matchup. USC's second OH Sterling Foley played in the first match as well but left the match in the second set of the rematch after colliding with a teammate near the net. Down four starters and more than 50 percent of point production, the Trojans were led by breakout performances from Fr. OPP Christian Connell who had back-to-back double-digit kills with a career-high 18 kills and 20.0 points in the second meeting. Redshirt Fr. OH Jack Ebertin came in when Foley went down and played in his first match in more than a year to log a career-high eight kills on 22 swings. Parker Tomkinson remained consistent and put up back-to-back double-digit points matches.

CROSSTOWN CONNECT: USC head coach Jeff Nygaard was a two-time National Player of the Year and national champion as a student-athlete at UCLA. Trojan director of operations Virginia Pham served as a manager for all three of UCLA's volleyball programs from 2012-15 while she was an undergraduate. Graduate MB Guy Genis played for the Bruins and won back-to-back NCAA championships in 2023-24 and will face his former teammates for the first time when the teams clash this week.

POLL POSITION: The Trojans were ranked No. 7 in the AVCA Preseason Poll. In 2024, the poll expanded to 20 teams (previously 15). USC is currently ranked No. 5in the April 14 poll. The Trojans first reached fifth in the coach's poll on Feb. 3 to mark their highest position since they also ranked No. 5 in 2022 (April 18). On March 10, USC's spot at No. 5 marked the 200th time the Trojans had been ranked in the AVCA Poll's top five. The Trojans' reached the top three (March 24) for the first time in over 10 years and were previously ranked as high as third on Feb. 16, 2015.

BIG BLOCK ENERGY: The Trojans' 2.77 blocks per set rank first in both the MPSF and in the NCAA. USC has racked up double-digit blocks in 13 of its 24 contests including a season-high 17 at CSUN (Jan. 22). Three Trojan starters rank in the MPSF's top 15 for blocks led by freshman MB Parker Tomkinson who leads the league at 1.12 bps (10th in the NCAA). MB Guy Genis ranks fifth in the league at 1.03 bps to rank 17th in the NCAA. OH Sterling Foley ranks 15th at 0.73 bps.

RECORD HIGH: USC's .691 hitting percentage against Dominican (Feb. 8) set a new school record. It also tied the third-highest single-match output by an MPSF team—a mark also equaled by Pepperdine this season. The Trojans have hit north of .300 in 18 matches with nine matches north of the .400 mark. Six times, USC has logged a hitting percentage higher than .450. USC's .355 hitting ranks second in the MPSF and is fourth in the NCAA.

PRIORITY DELIVERY: S Caleb Blanchette leads the NCAA in assists (10.88 aps). He has equaled his career-high (61) in two matches this season (at UC Irvine, Feb. 12; at BYU, March 7) and crossed the 1,500-assist mark in his career (1,835).

JOHNNY ON THE SPOT: LIB Johnny Dykstra leads the MPSF in digs with 2.30 dps. He has produced eight matches in double-digit digs and ranks 13th in the nation for digs, fourth best among the nation's freshmen.

DK 1K WATCH: OH Dillon Klein has reached double-digit kills in 58 of 74 career matches and is on pace to reach the 1,000-kill mark by the end of the 2025 regular season. He has 993 career kills and needs just seven to reach the mark.

JUST DEU IT: OPP Jack Deuchar has played in just half of the team's contests this spring. After missing the first eight matches of the season, his return yielded immediate dividends. He has produced eight matches in double-digit kills including a season-high 23 in a win at BYU. Deuchar logged a casual season-high .600 hitting percentage with 20 kills on 30 attacks (2e) in a win over Grand Canyon (March 28) and is the team's second-leading scorer at 4.31 points per set (3.71 kps). Deuchar leads the team with 0.26 service aces per set.

No. 5 USC Men's Volleyball Closes Regular Season with No. 2 UCLA

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Caleb Blanchette

Christian Connell

Jack Deuchar

Johnny Dykstra

Jack Ebertin

Sterling Foley

Guy Genis

Dillon Klein

Noah Roberts

Parker Tomkinson

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University Southern California Trojans

No. 5 USC Men's Volleyball Closes Regular Season with No. 2 UCLA

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Caleb Blanchette

Christian Connell

Jack Deuchar

Johnny Dykstra

Jack Ebertin

Sterling Foley

Guy Genis

Dillon Klein

Noah Roberts

Parker Tomkinson

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