Men’s volleyball hosts Hawai’i for exhibition

Back for more · Senior outside hitter Alex Slaught recorded a team-best 284 kills in 2015, to go along with 121 digs, which contributed to him being named All-MPSF honorable mention. – Brian Ji | Daily Trojan

After a less than stellar first taste as the head coach of USC men’s volleyball in a fall tournament last month, Jeff Nygaard will look for an improved performance on Thursday in another early exhibition game against Hawai’i.

Nygaard, who was announced as the program head coach this past June, won’t have to coach his first official match until the Trojan’s season opener against Penn State in January, but the matchup against Hawai’i will be another chance for the Trojans to see where they are in their fall training program.

The team lost one of its best players in program history in setter Micah Christenson, who graduated in the spring. Christenson is a member of the U.S. Men’s national team and was key to the Trojans’ offense.

The Trojans face one of the premier programs in Hawai’i, who advanced to the NCAA national championship tournament last year. The team is looking to advance to the NCAA tournament for the first time since the 2012-2013 season.

At the fall tournament earlier this year on Oct. 25, the Trojans dropped all four of their matches against Concordia, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Northridge.

USC was the only team at the tourney to go winless, while their crosstown rivals went 3-1.

Nygaard took over the USC program after athletic director Pat Haden announced that former head coach Bill Ferguson would not return last May.

Ferguson went 150-102 during his nine seasons at USC including three trips to the NCAA chamionships.

Last season, Ferguson’s team went 19-9 and finished 2015 as the No. 7 ranked team in the nation. The program, however, finished in the bottom half of the MPSF in the two years prior.

The match against Hawai’i starts at 7 p.m. in the Galen Center.