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USC Men's Volleyball Falls to Top-Seeded UCLA in MPSF Semifinals

by usctrojans.com
Apr 18, 2024

LOS ANGELES – The sixth-seeded USC men's volleyball team (13-15) fell to top-seeded and No. 1-ranked crosstown rival UCLA (23-4) in three sets (25-22, 25-16, 25-21) in the semifinals of the 2024 MPSF Championship Tournament at Galen Center on Thursday, April 18. The loss eliminates the Trojans from the tournament.
 
KEY PLAYERS

  • Redshirt Jr. Jack Deuchar led the offense with 11 kills on .227 hitting with two blocks.
  • Fr. setter Caleb Blanchette put up 19 assists and had two kills and two blocks.
  • So. OH Dillon Klein added six kills on .278 hitting and had five digs.
  • Jr. MB Markus Olsson scored five kills (1e, 8att) and hit .500 to go with two digs and two blocks. 
  • For the Bruins, Merrick McHenry tied with Cooper Robinson for team-high honors with 10 kills. McHenry hit .667 and had five digs and three blocks while Robinson had three aces, three blocks, and three assists. Grant Sloane and Ethan Champlin each recorded nine kills apiece for UCLA.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • The score was tied nine times in the opening frame and USC held the lead momentarily, but the Bruins closed out a win, 25-22, behind four kills apiece from Robinson and Sloane. The Trojans had four from Deuchar and four from Olsson and hit .200 with three blocks but were outpaced by the UCLA offense in the end.
  • The Bruins led wire-to-wire in the second frame and went up, 2-0, with a 25-18 win, this time with four kills apiece from McHenry and Champlin. UCLA collected five blocks in set two and held USC to negative hitting (-.042).
  • UCLA never trailed in the third set despite a USC bid to even things up. Deuchar had five kills, Klein had four without an error, and Noah Roberts came in to score three kills as USC hit .320, but the Bruins held the Trojans off for a 25-21 win with 15 kills on .481 hitting and four service aces.

MATCH NOTES

  • USC fell to UCLA for the third time this season and the ninth time in a row to go to 46-107 all-time in the series' history.
  • The Trojans dropped to 16-20 all-time in MPSF tournament matches.
  • USC moved to 6-12 in matches with AVCA top 20 opponents this season.

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 X and Instagram.
 

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