USC Men’s Volleyball’s Kyle Paulson Named MPSF Defensive Player of the Week

Men’s Volleyball | January 22, 2024

LOS ANGELES – USC men’s volleyball senior middle blocker Kyle Paulson (Long Beach, Calif./Millikan HS) was chosen as the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation’s Defensive Player of the Week, the league announced on Monday, Jan. 22.
 
Paulson—who was also named the Off the Block National Middle Attacker of the Week—garners the first MPSF weekly award of his career and marks the first MPSF award won by a Trojan since sophomore outside hitter Dillon Klein won offensive honors on April 17, 2023. 
 
The Trojans’ middle blocker produced a career-high 15.5 points in USC’s 3-1 win over 14th-ranked Ball State at the First Point Collegiate Challenge. Paulson set a career mark with eight blocks (one solo) and added nine kills (1e) on just 10 swings to hit .800 and added two assists and two service aces to go with a career-high tying six digs. For his efforts, he was named the Player of the Match.
 
One night later, Paulson topped his career high with 10 blocks (one solo) against No. 4 Ohio State and became the first Trojan to reach double-digit blocks since Sam Lewis had 11 against Penn State in 2018 (Jan. 20). In the narrow 3-2 loss to the Buckeyes, Paulson added six kills (1e, 8att, .625) and had two service aces for a total of 13.5 points. In all, Paulson had 29.0 points in the two matches and averaged 3.22 points per set to go with 2.00 blocks per set. Through six matches, Paulson ranks second in the MPSF for blocks per set at 1.38 bps.
 
The 11th-ranked Trojans (5-1) moved up two spots in the AVCA/NVA Coaches Poll following the two-match split in Austin, Texas. This week, USC hosts No. 18 CSUN (3-3) on Wednesday (Jan. 24) and Central State (0-6) on Thursday (Jan. 25). Both matches will be played at Galen Center with first serve set for 7 p.m. PT. USC-CSUN will be shown live on Pac-12 Los Angeles. 
 
For more information on the USC men’s volleyball team, please visit USCTrojans.com/MVB. Fans of the Trojans can follow @USCmensvolley on Instagram, X, and Facebook.