No. 12 USC Men’s Volleyball Hosts No. 5 Grand Canyon to Open MPSF Play

Men’s Volleyball | February 14, 2023

LOS ANGELES – The 12th-ranked USC men’s volleyball team (6-4) begins conference play against Mountain Pacific Sports Federation foe No. 5 Grand Canyon (11-0) with a pair of matches at Galen Center this week. The Trojans and the Lopes will take the court for a 7 p.m. PT match on Wednesday (Feb. 15) on Pac-12 Networks and then do it again on Friday (Feb. 17) at 7 p.m. on a live USC stream. The Trojans are 34-19 all-time in conference openers. 

THIS WEEK

Galen Center • Los Angeles, Calif.

No. 10 USC (6-4) vs. No. 5 Grand Canyon (11-0)

MATCH #11 • Wednesday, February 15 • 7 p.m. PT

LIVE TV: Pac-12 Networks (Jim Watson)

MATCH #12 • Friday, February 17 • 7 p.m. PT

STREAM: USC Stream (Paul Duchesne & Cameron Green)

SERIES RECORD: USC trails, 6-8 (.429)

LAST MEETING: W 3-0 (Apr. 16, 2022 • Phoenix, Ariz.)

STREAK: Won 2 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 4-6

OPPONENT WEBSITE: GCULopes.com

FIRST SERVE (TL;DR)

• USC is led by eighth-year head coach Jeff Nygaard, a three-time Olympian in indoor and beach volleyball and a two-time NCAA champion.
• The Trojans are currently ranked 12th in the AVCA Div I-II Coaches Poll. USC is 1-4 against ranked opponents this season.
• The Men of Troy are 34-19 all-time in conference openers and have won four of their last six league openers.
• USC returns All-American OPP Simon Gallas who ranks 13th in the MPSF for points (3.04 pps) with 2.36 kills per set this spring.
• This season, the Trojans added All-American OH Kevin Kobrine; a grad transfer from UCLA. He was an All-MPSF choice in 2022 and follows brother Sam Kobrine who also transferred after four years at UCLA in 2021.
• USC MB Lucas Frassrand returns after an All-America honorable mention campaign as a junior. His .368 hitting percentage is eighth in the MPSF.
• Jr. S Nate Tennant was chosen as the Off the Block National Setter of the Week (Jan. 16) after leading USC to back-to-back 3-0 wins.

LAST TIME OUT: The Trojans suffered a pair of four-set losses to No. 4 Penn State and No. 13 Ohio State in the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge in State College, Pa. Dillon Klein put up his seventh straight double-digit kills match and led USC with 20 against the Nittany Lions. Simon Gallas posted his first-career double-double with 14 kills and 11 digs against the Buckeyes. Jack…