USC Men’s Volleyball Falls to Top-Seeded UCLA in MPSF Semifinals

LOS ANGELES – The sixth-seeded USC men’s volleyball team (13-15) fell to top-seeded and No. 1-ranked crosstown rival UCLA (23-4) in three sets (25-22, 25-16, 25-21) in the semifinals of the 2024 MPSF Championship Tournament at Galen Center on Thursday, April 18. The loss eliminates the Trojans from the tournament.
 
KEY PLAYERS

• Redshirt Jr. Jack Deuchar led the offense with 11 kills on .227 hitting with two blocks.
• Fr. setter Caleb Blanchette put up 19 assists and had two kills and two blocks.
• So. OH Dillon Klein added six kills on .278 hitting and had five digs.
• Jr. MB Markus Olsson scored five kills (1e, 8att) and hit .500 to go with two digs and two blocks. 
• For the Bruins, Merrick McHenry tied with Cooper Robinson for team-high honors with 10 kills. McHenry hit .667 and had five digs and three blocks while Robinson had three aces, three blocks, and three assists. Grant Sloane and Ethan Champlin each recorded nine kills apiece for UCLA.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The score was tied nine times in the opening frame and USC held the lead momentarily, but the Bruins closed out a win, 25-22, behind four kills apiece from Robinson and Sloane. The Trojans had four from Deuchar and four from Olsson and hit .200 with three blocks but were outpaced by the UCLA offense in the end.
• The Bruins led wire-to-wire in the second frame and went up, 2-0, with a 25-18 win, this time with…