No. 12 USC Men’s Volleyball Set For Home and Home with No. 19 UC San Diego

Men’s Volleyball | January 29, 2024

LOS ANGELES – The 12th-ranked USC men’s volleyball team (6-2) will play its first true road match when the Trojans meet No. 19 UC San Diego (2-6) at LionTree Arena in La Jolla, Calif., for a Wednesday-night tilt (Jan. 31). The Tritons will play the back half of the home-and-home when they visit Galen Center on Friday (Feb. 2). On the road, USC-UCSD will be shown on ESPN+. At home, a free stream is available via USCTrojans.com. Last year, USC went five sets with UC San Diego and won at the ASICS Invitational hosted by UC Santa Barbara.

THIS WEEK

No. 12 USC (6-2, 0-0 MPSF) vs. No. 19 UC San Diego (2-6, 0-0 Big West)

MATCH #9 • Wednesday, Jan. 31 • 7 p.m. PT

LionTree Arena • La Jolla, Calif.

LIVE STREAM: ESPN+ (Bryan Fenley & Kirstin Olsen)

MATCH #10 • Friday, Feb. 2 • 7 p.m. PT

Galen Center • Los Angeles, Calif.

LIVE STREAM: USC Stream (Max Kelton & Paul Duchesne)

SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 45-11 (.804)

LAST MEETING: W, 3-2 (Jan. 7, 2023 • Santa Barbara, Calif.)

STREAK: Won 2 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 7-3

OPPONENT WEBSITE: UCSDTritons.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.
• The Men of Troy will play their first true road match on Wednesday (Jan. 31) when they take on UC San Diego at LionTree Arena in La Jolla.
• USC has reached double-digit blocks in four matches this season and has had more blocks than its opponent in seven of eight contests.
• The Trojans have out-hit their opponent in seven matches. USC’s .368 hitting percentage ranks third in the MPSF and fourth in the NCAA.
• Freshmen Wesley Smith (MB), Jakobi Lange (OH), Jack Ebertin (OH), Brad Pan (LIB), and transfer Josh Friedman (S) were 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.
• Sr. MB Kyle Paulson ranks second in the MPSF for blocks (1.29 bps) and is eighth in the NCAA,…