LOS ANGELES – The 11th-ranked USC men’s volleyball team (11-11, 2-6 MPSF) was defeated in four sets (15-25, 25-20, 27-25, 25-19) by No. 8 Pepperdine (17-7, 5-5) at Galen Center on Saturday, March 30.
KEY PLAYERS
- So. OH Dillon Klein collected 17 kills (6e, 34att) and hit .324 to register double-digit kills for the 37th time in his career. He also had six digs, three blocks, and a service ace to finish with 19.5 points.
- Fr. setter Caleb Blanchette put up 33 assists with eight digs, two blocks, and had three kills on five swings.
- Redshirt Fr. OPP Noah Roberts posted new career highs of 10 kills (0e) and 23 attacks to hit .435 and had two blocks and a service ace to record a career-best 12.5 points.
- Sr. MB Kyle Paulson led the Trojans with six blocks and had five kills (1e, 7att) to hit .571.
- For the Waves, Akin Akinwumi led with 18 kills (4e, 35att) and hit .400 to go with four blocks (one solo). Cole Ketrzynski had 16 kills and added six digs. Alexander Mrkalj had nine kills with .562 hitting. Ryan Graves put up 50 assists and had three kills and three digs. Trey Cole led all players with 12 digs.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Pepperdine hit .421 and had 11 kills in the opening frame to roll away with a 25-15 win. Klein posted four of his kills in the first set, but the Trojans hit .045 as a team in the loss.
- Klein put up five more kills in the second set and led USC to a .393 hitting percentage for a 25-20 win to…
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