Men’s Volleyball | April 16, 2024
LOS ANGELES – USC men’s volleyball sophomore outside hitter Dillon Klein (Pacific Palisades, Calif./Loyola HS) was named to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation All-Conference second team for the second time in his career, the league announced on Tuesday, April 16.
Senior middle blocker Kyle Paulson (Long Beach, Calif./Millikan HS) earned All-MPSF honorable mention for the first time in his career. Setter Caleb Blanchette(Brentwood, Tenn./Ravenwood HS) and middle blocker Wesley Smith (Encinitas, Calif./La Costa Canyon HS) were each chosen to the MPSF All-Freshman Team.
Klein leads the team and ranks third in the MPSF for kills (3.54 kps) and is fourth for points (4.05 pps) and attacks (7.64 aps). His .309 hitting percentage ranks seventh in the league and he is third on the team in blocks (0.66 bps). He has had 20 matches in double-digit kills in 2024 (40 in his career) and produced his first-career double-double this season with 14 kills and 14 digs in a match at UC Irvine (Feb. 7).
Paulson is USC’s team leader in blocks (1.10 bps) and ranks third in the MPSF (seventh in the NCAA). He averages 1.32 kills per set with .444 hitting and leads the Trojans in service aces with 30 (0.30 saps), which ranks 10th in the MPSF. Paulson matched his career high of 10 kills in two matches this spring and set a new career mark of 10 blocks in a match against Ohio State (Jan. 20).
Blanchette leads the team and ranks fifth in the MPSF for assists (9.10 aps) and has started in all but one match as a freshman. He has produced three double-doubles and holds career highs of 60 assists and 13 digs. Smith ranks second on the team for blocks (0.95 bps) and is fifth in the MPSF. He started and played in 20 matches for the Trojans before sustaining an injury that kept him out of the final six matches of the regular season. He reached double-digit kills four times and had nine matches in double-digit points while hitting .509.
USC and Galen Center host the 2024 MPSF Tournament this week (April 17-20). The sixth-seeded Trojans take on third-seeded BYU in one of three quarterfinal matches on…
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