No. 5 USC Men's Volleyball Falls to No. 1 UCLA in Rematch

Friday, March 6

Los Angeles, Calif.

7:00 p.m. PT

USC

8-3,1-2MPSF

UCLA

16-0,5-0MPSF

Southern California

UCLA

Photo by: Bryce Dechert

No. 5 USC Men's Volleyball Falls to No. 1 UCLA in Rematch

March 06, 2026 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

Dillon Klein led the Trojans with 16 kills in a loss to the Bruins

LOS ANGELES – The fifth-ranked USC men's volleyball team (8-3, 1-2 MPSF) dropped a four-set decision (25-22, 23-25, 25-15, 25-19) to crosstown rival No. 1-ranked UCLA (16-0, 5-0) at Pauley Pavilion on Friday, March 6.

KEY PLAYERS

Sr. OH Dillon Klein led the Trojans with 16 kills to go with four digs, one block, and three assists. Klein reached double-digit kills in a match for the 72nd time in his career.
So. OH Sterling Foley had 10 kills, seven digs, two blocks, and a service ace.
Jr. S Caleb Blanchette put up 30 assists to go with five digs.
So. LIB Johnny Dykstra dug up 10 balls for his 11th-career match in double digits.
Redshirt Jr. OPP Noah Roberts scored seven kills and picked up five digs
For the Bruins, Zach Rama led with 19 kills. Sean Kelly put up 17 kills to go with six digs and had a pair of service aces. David Decker scored the double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs to go with two service aces.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The opening frame was tied 10 times before UCLA went ahead by two at 14-12. The score was never tied again and the Bruins led by as many as four several times before completing a 25-22 win. UCLA collected 19 kills and hit .426 in the first set to outpace the Trojans' .433 hitting percentage with 14 kills (1e) on 30 attacks. Roberts led the Trojans with five kills while Klein and Foley each had four.
USC evened the match with a 25-23 win in set two. The Trojans had nine kills (4e) on 22 swings to hit .227 over UCLA's .185 outing with 11 kills (6e, 27att). The Trojans grabbed three blocks in the second and got their first ace of the match to set up set point when Foley hit the floor from behind the service line to make it 24-22. Klein picked up lion's share of the scoring with five kills while Foley had two.
UCLA ripped open an 8-4 lead in the third off a kill on an overpassed ball that spurred the Bruins to a dominant 25-15 win. UCLA hit .357 with 14 kills (4e) on 28 attacks and held the Trojans to just .034 hitting with eight kills (7e) on 29 attempts. The Bruins had two aces in the third including one from Kelly to put UCLA up, 20-11. Foley led with three kills while Klein and Cooper Keane had two kills apiece.
The Bruins went on a tear in the fourth and completed the win with a 25-19 victory. Rama had seven kills, Kelly had four, and Decker had three as UCLA hit .619 with a total of 14 kills (1e) on 21 swings. The Bruins also had four blocks to hold USC to a .087 hitting percentage (10k, 8e, 23att). Klein had five kills himself, but five other Trojans had one kill each in the loss.

UP NEXT

USC continues MPSF play with a visit to Concordia next Thursday (March 12). The Trojans take on the Golden Eagles at CUI Arena at 6 p.m. PT and will be shown live on Big Ten Plus. On Saturday (March 14) USC plays a midseason nonconference match when it hosts Penn State at Galen Center for a 5 p.m. bout.

MATCH NOTES

USC fell to 47-110 all-time against UCLA and were swept in the two-match season series.

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.