USC Men's Volleyball Falls to Pepperdine in MPSF Title Bout

Saturday, April 26

Malibu, Calif.

7:30 p.m. PT

USC

21-7,8-4MPSF

Pepperdine

20-9,7-5MPSF

Pepperdine

Southern California

Photo by: Kate Tsao

USC Men's Volleyball Falls to Pepperdine in MPSF Title Bout

April 26, 2025 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score Highlights

Dillon Klein and Parker Tomkinson were chosen to the MPSF all-tournament team

MALIBU, Calif. – The second-seeded No. 5-ranked USC men's volleyball team (21-7) fell to fourth-seeded and No. 8-ranked tournament host Pepperdine (20-9) in the MPSF championship match at Firestone Fieldhouse on Saturday, April 26.

KEY PLAYERS

Jr. OH Dillon Klein led the Trojans with 21.0 points collected on 16 kills (7e, 43att, .209) to go with eight digs, five blocks (one solo), and a pair of service aces. It was his 20th match in double-digit kills (61st career). Klein was one of two USC players named to the all-tournament team.
Fr. MB Parker Tomkinson was also chosen to the all-tournament team and finished the night with six kills (0e, 11att) and .545 hitting with seven blocks.
Redshirt Sr. OPP Jack Deuchar had eight kills (2e) on 18 swings to hit .333 with one dig.
Fr. OPP Christian Connell came off the bench and scored five kills and two blocks (one solo).
So. S Caleb Blanchette put up 42 assists with eight digs, three blocks (one solo) and two kills.
Gr. MB Guy Genis posted four blocks and had a pair of kills and three digs.
Fr. LIB Johnny Dykstra recorded a new career-high 16 digs and had two assists.
For the Waves, Ryan Barnett had the double-double with 23 kills and 11 digs. Ilay Haver also had a double-double with 11 kills and a match-high 18 digs. Jacob Reilly put up 12 digs. Gabriel Dyer had 44 assists and four digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Trojans out-hit the Waves, .231 to .193 and had more blocks (15.5-8.5), but Pepperdine won the service game with eight aces to USC's two.
It took 18 ties and seven lead changes before the first set was decided. Barnett had six kills to lead the Waves to .206 hitting (14k, 7e, 34att) and Pepperdine had 17 digs to help hold the Trojans to a .179 attack rate (12k, 5e) on 39 swings. Deuchar collected five of his kills in the opener and the Trojans had five blocks and a pair of aces in the 26-24 loss.
The Waves broke the seventh and final tie of set two and held off a late Trojan push to close out a 25-20 win for a 2-0 lead in the match. USC had six service errors and hit .250 in the second (13k, 4e) on 36 attacks behind a .281 performance by Pepperdine, which had 12 kills (3e) on 32 attempts. Barnett had five kills to pace the Waves' attack and Klein put up five kills to lead the Trojans.
Fr. OH Sterling Foley racked five kills and Connell poured in four to power the Trojans to a .298 hitting performance (11k, 3e, 27att) and a 25-21 win in the third. Connell and Foley had back-to-back kills to break the 10th tie of the frame and put USC on top for good. The Trojans put up six more blocks and held the Waves to a .028 hitting rate (11k, 10e) on 36 attempts despite a seven-kill set from Barnett.
Pepperdine seized early control of the fourth, but the Trojans clawed their way back into a sixth tie at 17-all. Klein turned in seven more kills and did his best to will USC to a win, but the Waves held off every Trojan advance to close out the set, 25-21, for the win. Barnett and Haver each turned in five kills in the fourth set to help the Waves hit .263 (14k, 4e) on 38 attempts. The Trojans hit .219 with 12 kills (5e) on 32 swings.

UP NEXT

The Trojans now await the disposition of the NCAA selection committee, which will announce the field for the national championship on Sunday (April 27) at 4 p.m. ET (1 p.m. PT) on NCAA.com.

MATCH NOTES

USC fell to 45-79 all-time against Pepperdine.
The Trojans reached double-digit blocks for the 16th time this season (15.5).
USC played in its first MPSF championship match since the 2019 season when it later received an at-large berth into the NCAA tournament. That year, USC also fell to tournament-host Pepperdine at the Firestone Fieldhouse.
The Trojans moved to 17-21 all-time in MPSF tournament matches and to 32-36 in conference and regional playoffs.

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.