No. 13 USC Men’s Volleyball Closes Regular Season at No. 7 Stanford

Men’s Volleyball | April 08, 2024

LOS ANGELES – The 13th-ranked USC men’s volleyball team (12-12, 3-7 MPSF) heads to the Bay Area to close the regular season with a pair of matches against No. 7 Stanford (11-11, 4-6) at Maples Pavilion. Seeding in the upcoming MPSF tournament is on the line when the Trojans and Cardinal meet (April 12-13) as two wins will move USC into the fifth position in the regular-season standings. A loss in either match will keep the Men of Troy in sixth place. Friday’s match will be shown live on Pac-12 Bay Area and Saturday’s contest is set for a live stream on the Stanford live stream platform. 

THIS WEEK

No. 13 USC (12-12, 3-7 MPSF) at No. 7 Stanford (11-11, 4-6 MPSF)

Maples Pavilion • Stanford, Calif.

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. On March 6, in a win over Penn State, he recorded his 100th-career win.
• The Trojans are ranked 13th in the AVCA/NVA Coaches Poll. This year’s poll is expanded to include 20 teams for the first time.
• USC has reached double-digit blocks 12 times and has outblocked its opponent 15 times. USC’s 2.50 blocks per set leads the MPSF (sixth in the NCAA).
• The Trojans have out-hit their opponent in 13 matches. USC’s .304 hitting percentage ranks fourth in the MPSF and is 13th in the NCAA.
• So. OH Dillon Klein has reached double-digit kills in 19 matches this season and has had 39 double-digit matches in his career.
• 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’…