No. 12 USC Men’s Volleyball Hosts Harvard and Lincoln Memorial

Men’s Volleyball | January 08, 2024

LOS ANGELES – The 12th-ranked USC men’s volleyball team (2-0) hosts Harvard (0-0) and Lincoln Memorial (0-0) in a pair of home matches at Galen Center this week. The Trojans take on the Crimson on Thursday (Jan. 11) at 7 p.m. PT on the Pac-12 Networks and then meet the Railsplitters on Saturday (Jan. 13) at 7 p.m. The USC-LMU match will be shown live on a USC stream.

THIS WEEK

Galen Center • Los Angeles, Calif.

MATCH #3 • Thursday, January 11 • 7 p.m. PT

No. 12 USC (2-0) vs. Harvard (0-0)

SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 4-0 (1.000)

LAST MEETING: W 3-1 (March 11, 2018 • Galen Center)

STREAK: Won 4 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 4-0

TV: Pac-12 Network/Los Angeles (Anne Marie Anderson)

OPPONENT WEBSITE: GoCrimson.com

MATCH #4 • Saturday, January 13 • 7 p.m. PT

No. 12 USC (2-0) vs. Lincoln Memorial (0-0)

SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 1-0 (1.000)

LAST MEETING: W 3-0 (Jan. 18, 2019 • Lebanon, Tenn.)

STREAK: Won 1 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 1-0

TV/STREAM: USC Live Stream (Jack Smith)

OPPONENT WEBSITE: LMURailSplitters.com

FIRST SERVE (TL;DR)

• USC is led by ninth-year head coach Jeff Nygaard, a three-time Olympian in indoor and beach volleyball and a two-time NCAA champion.
• The Trojans are ranked 12th in the AVCA/NVA Coaches Poll. This year’s poll is expanded to include 20 teams for the first time.
• USC was picked to finish fifth by the MPSF coaches in a preseason poll. Last year, the Trojans were sixth with a 3-9 league record.
• The Trojans opened the season with a pair of 3-0 wins over Fort Valley State and Morehouse College and improved to 34-21 in all-time season openers; 6-3 in nine such matches under Nygaard.
• USC’s incoming class of freshmen Wes Smith (MB), Jakobi Lange (OH), Jack Ebertin (OH), Brad Pan (LIB), and junior transfer Josh Friedman (S) was rated the No. 1 recruiting class by VolleyballMag.com. Smith was the No. 1-ranked individual player.
• Fr. S Caleb Blanchette signed to be a part of the Trojans’ 2025 freshman class in November, but completed high school requirements and reclassified to join USC’s 2024 class in time to compete in the spring.
• The Trojans return…