USC attempts to bounce back against No. 8 UCSB
The USC men’s volleyball team looks to recover from a tough loss against BYU as they host UCSB tonight at the Galen Center in an Mountain Pacific Sports Federation conference game. The Trojans (5-3, 4-3 MPSF) fell to the Cougars in five sets, 16-25, 25-22, 15-25, 25-20, 15-10. USC dropped to the fifth spot in the AVCA top 15 as the Gauchos (5-2, 4-2) climbed to No. 8 after sweeping a double-header against Hawai’i.
Killing it · Outside hitter Lucas Yoder was named the Off The Block National Freshman of the Week on Feb. 3 for the third time this season. – Tucker McWhirter | Daily Trojan
Despite the loss, freshman outside hitter Lucas Yoder had a match-high 23 kills for the Trojans. Yoder was named the Off The Block National Freshman of the Week for the third time in five weeks for his performance. Junior outside hitter Cristian Rivera had 12 kills of his own, along with three aces. Sophomore outside hitter Alex Slaught had 11 kills and freshman middle blocker Andy Benesh had six blocks.
USC also outhit the Cougars .261 to .233, but could not stop BYU’s rally late in the game. After handily winning the first set thanks to hitting .600 and serving three aces, the Trojans fell behind early in the second set and never recovered. USC again jumped to an early lead in the third set and converted the lead to a win. The Trojans had an early lead in the fourth set, but lost the lead and eventually the set. The Cougars went on a 5-0 lead early in the final set and pulled away to win the match.
“We need to limit the number of errors we make,” said USC head coach Bill Ferguson. “We make errors at bad times and it hurts us in the end and it kills our momentum.”
The Gauchos are led on the offensive end by outside hitter Austin Kingi, who has amassed 84 kills in seven games. On the defensive side of the ball, setter Jonah Seif leads the team with 48 digs. The squad’s only losses this year have come at the hands of two of the country’s top teams, No. 1 UCLA and No. 9 UC Irvine.
The Trojans average 14.2 kills per set while the Gauchos average only 11.71. What the Gauchos lack in offensive firepower, they make up for by minimizing errors. USC has 181 errors this year to UCSB’s 143.
Tonight’s game against the Gauchos is the first of two home games this week for the Trojans, leading up to Sunday’s match against UCLA at 6 p.m.
“We need to come together and play as a team and not as individuals,” Ferguson said. “If we do that, we’ll be in good shape.”
The match begins tonight at 7 p.m. in the Galen Center.