USC Men’s Volleyball’s Dillon Klein Collects 1,000th Kill

Thursday, April 17

Los Angeles, Calif.

7:30 p.m. PT

USC

19-6,7-4MPSF

UCLA

20-4,10-1MPSF

Southern California

UCLA

Photo by: John McGillen

USC Men’s Volleyball’s Dillon Klein Collects 1,000th Kill

April 17, 2025 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

The Trojans fell to No. 2 UCLA in a hard-fought five-set finish at Pauley Pavilion

LOS ANGELES – The No. 5-ranked USC men's volleyball team (19-6, 7-4 MPSF) fell to No. 2 UCLA (20-4, 10-1) in a five-setter (22-25, 25-22, 25-17, 23-25, 15-11) at Pauley Pavilion on Thursday, April 17.

KEY PLAYERS

Jr. OH Dillon Klein recorded his 1,000th-career kill in the fourth set of the match and finished the night with 11 kills (5e, 32att) for his 18th match in double digits (59th career) and added five digs and three blocks (one solo).
Fr. OPP Christian Connell shared team-high honors with 11 kills (5e, 22att, .273) and added three digs and two blocks.
Gr. MB Guy Genis—in his return to Pauley Pavilion—tallied three kills and had seven blocks (one solo) and an ace.
Fr. MB Parker Tomkinson scored on eight kills on .467 hitting (1e, 15att) with four blocks (two solo) and two service aces for his 12th match in double-digit points (13.0).
So. S Caleb Blanchette dished out 42 assists to go with two digs and a block.
Fr. LIB Johnny Dykstra recorded seven digs.
For the Bruins, Cooper Robinson led all players with 25 kills and had five blocks. Zach Rama had 19 kills which included eight in the fifth set alone. Sean Kelly totaled 13 kills to go with seven digs and Andrew Rowan put up 52 assists with six digs, three service aces, and three kills.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Trojans led set one from wire to wire to take a 25-22 win. The Trojans were led by four kills apiece from Tomkinson and Jack Deuchar with a .385 hitting percentage (15k, 5e) on 26 swings. UCLA got eight of its 12 kills (4e, 20att, .400) from Robinson but USC collected three service aces and had three blocks. The Trojans led by as many as five points twice and were up, 24-20, when UCLA scored two in a row. Genis had the final word with his second kill to end set one.
UCLA tied the match with a 25-22 win in set two as Robinson poured in eight more kills to lift the Bruins to a .423 hitting percentage (13k, 2e) on 26 swings. The Trojans had 10 kills (7e, 27att) but were held to a .111 hitting rate. Connell collected four kills in the second set and helped spur a Trojan comeback bid that brought USC within two points at 23-21.
Set three was tied seven times early on but the Bruins took a 9-8 lead and never trailed again. UCLA held the Trojans to just four kills (6e) on 16 attacks for a negative .125 hitting rate and hit .346 itself with 13 kills (4e) on 26 attempts.
UCLA led set four by as many as three at 12-9, but the Trojans fought back to turn the tables and took a three-point lead of their own at 20-17 and 21-18. Despite another late charge by the Bruins, USC held on to take a 25-23 win and force set five on a pipe-set kill from Klein. Earlier in the set, Klein registered his 1,000th-career kill on a similar play. USC hit .476 in the fourth with 11 kills (1e) on 21 swings while UCLA hit .182 with 13 kills (7e) on 33 attacks thanks to six USC blocks.
The Bruins began to pull away in the fifth, but USC equalized for a fifth tie at seven-all. From there, UCLA ripped through a 5-1 run to lead by four at 12-8 and forced a second Trojan timeout. The Trojans tried to close the gap, but Rama picked up his eighth kill of the frame to close a 15-11 win.

UP NEXT

USC closes the regular season in a rematch with UCLA on Saturday (April 19) at 5 p.m. PT. The meeting will be the Trojans' Senior Night and will be shown live on Big Ten Plus (B1G+).

MATCH NOTES

USC fell to 46-108 all-time against UCLA. The Bruins won their 10th straight match over the Trojans.
The Trojans reached double-digit blocks for the 14th time this season (12.5).

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.