No. 5 USC Men's Volleyball Sweeps Golden Eagles

Thursday, March 12

Irvine, Calif.

6:00 p.m. PT

USC

9-3,2-2MPSF

Concordia

5-12,2-4MPSF

Southern California

CUI

Photo by: Kevin Kim

No. 5 USC Men's Volleyball Sweeps Golden Eagles

March 12, 2026 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Highlights

The Trojans hit .559 in an MPSF road victory over Concordia

IRVINE, Calif. – The fifth-ranked USC men's volleyball team (9-3, 2-2 MPSF) snapped a three-match losing streak with a road sweep (25-17, 25-12, 25-18) of Concordia (5-12, 2-4) at CU Arena on Thursday, March 12.

KEY PLAYERS

Fr. OH Cooper Keane posted a career-best 15.5 points and hit a career-high .714 with 10 kills (0e) on just 14 swings to go with a career-high five service aces, a block, three digs, and two assists.
So. OH Sterling Foley reached double-digits for the sixth time and finished with 11 kills (2e, 17att) to hit .529 with six digs and a block to finish with 11.5 points.
Sr. OH Dillon Klein had eight kills (3e, 13att) and hit .385 with three digs, three blocks, and a service ace for 10.5 points.
Jr. S Caleb Blanchette had 27 assists with four digs, three blocks, two kills, and a service ace for a season-high 4.5 points.
So. LIB Johnny Dykstra recorded five digs and had four assists.
Redshirt So. MB Wesley Smith totaled eight points with five kills (0e, 5att, 1.000) and a match-high four blocks (two solo).
For the Golden Eagles, Logan Whitaker led with seven kills. Paul Schulteis had six kills and added three service aces. Whitaker and Joseph Nunez each had four digs to lead CUI. Matt Fisher put up 20 assists and had a service ace.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Trojans posted a season-high .559 hitting percentage with 39 kills (6e) on 59 attacks to outpace the CUI attack, which USC held to .100 (24k, 17e, 70att). It was the Trojans' 10th match hitting better than .300 and their fifth hitting north of .400. USC had more assists (34-24), digs (22-12), blocks (8.5-1.0), and service aces (7-5) than the Golden Eagles to walk away with the sweep.
USC led wire-to-wire to take a 25-17 win in the opening frame. Foley collected five of his kills in set one and helped lift the Trojans to a .500 hitting percentage (14k, 2e, 24att). Keane had two kills and an ace while Smith added three kills and MB Parker Tomkinson added two.
The Trojans were even more efficient in the second set and rolled away with a 25-12 win to go up, 2-0, in the match. USC racked up 15 kills (1e) on just 21 swings to hit .667 led by five kills apiece from Keane and Klein. Foley added four and picked up three digs on defense to help hold CUI to a .111 hitting rate with five kills (3e) on 18 attacks.
The Golden Eagles put up a fight in the third and forced 10 tie scores and five lead changes before USC could put the sweep in the books with a 25-18 win. The Trojans got three kills from Keane and two each from Klein and Foley to hit .500 (10k, 3e, 14att) but did big damage on defense with 4.5 blocks including Smith's two solo efforts. CUI equaled USC's offensive output with 10 kills (7e, 25att) but hit just .120 thanks to the Trojan defense.

UP NEXT

USC plays its final nonconference contest on Saturday (March 14) when it hosts No. 15 Penn State (11-6, 4-0 EIVA) at Galen Center for a 5 p.m. bout that will be shown live on Big Ten Plus. The Nittany Lions fell to No. 6 Pepperdine in four sets on Wednesday (March 11) in their second of three West Coast matches.

MATCH NOTES

USC improved to 17-6 all-time against Concordia and won its ninth in a row over the Golden Eagles.
The Trojans moved to 3-1 in road matches this spring.
The USC win snapped a season-long three-match losing streak for the Trojans.

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, TikTok, and Instagram.