No. 15 USC Falls to No. 7 UC Irvine in Tight Four-Setter

IRVINE, Calif. – The 15th-ranked USC men’s volleyball team (7-4) fell to seventh-ranked UC Irvine (6-3) in four sets (25-19, 22-25, 28-30, 25-27) at Bren Events Center on Wednesday, Feb. 7.
 
KEY PLAYERS
·       Redshirt Jr. OPP Jack Deuchar led the team with a career-high 21 kills (2e, 38att) with .500 hitting and had 23.0 points. Deuchar also had six digs, two blocks, and an ace.
·       So. OH Dillon Klein recorded a double-double with 14 kills (3e, 25att, .440) and 14 digs. Klein reached double-digit kills for the 28th time in his career. Klein also had four blocks.
·       So. OH Riley Haine collected 11 kills (6e, 21att) and hit .238. Haine also had three blocks and four digs.
·       Sr. MB Kyle Paulson recorded seven kills (2e, 13att) hitting .385 and totaling 10.0 points. Paulson also collected two aces, two blocks, and two digs.
·       Fr. MB Wesley Smith racked up six kills (2e, 10att, .400) with eight blocks and a dig.
·       Fr. S Caleb Blanchette put up 49 assists—with five digs, two blocks, and an ace.
·       For the Anteaters, Hilir Henno led all players with 29 kills and 29.5 points, and he had seven digs. Maxim Grigoriev had 17 kills, six digs, and three blocks. Brett Sheward had 56 assists, seven digs, and three blocks, and Connor Campbell had two aces and seven blocks.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
·       The Trojans took the first set, 25-19, led by Deuchar with…