LOS ANGELES – The 12th-ranked USC men’s volleyball team (1-0) swept Fort Valley State (0-3) in three sets (25-12, 25-17, 25-12) at the Galen Center Pavilion to open the season on Friday, Jan. 5.
KEY PLAYERS
- Redshirt Jr. OPP Jack Deuchar led with a career-high 11 kills (2e, 17att) on .529 hitting and had five digs and an ace.
- So. OH Dillon Klein tallied seven kills (1e, 10att) with .600 hitting and added a dig.
- Redshirt Fr. OH Riley Haine posted six kills (0e, 9att, .667) in his debut and added four digs, three blocks, and an ace.
- Fr. MB Wes Smith put up six kills (1e, 9att, .556) and led the Trojans with four blocks to go with five digs.
- Sr. MB Kyle Paulson posted a career-high four service aces to go with five kills (0e, 9att) to hit .556 and had two blocks.
- Jr. LIB Austin Stuard reached double digits for the first time in his career and finished with 10 digs.
- For the Wildcats, Jaxon Hicks had nine kills to lead his team while De’vonte Payton had five. Hicks also led with five digs.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Trojans hit .550 to outpace the Wildcats’ .077 and had more kills (39-23), digs (30-12), aces (6-0), and blocks (7.5-1).
- USC never trailed in the opening frame and finished off a 25-12 result behind five kills from Deuchar and four from Klein. The Trojans had two of their aces in the first set and hit .632 to grab the early 1-0 lead.
- The Wildcats put up an early fight in set two, but USC rolled…
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