USC faces off against San Diego and Irvine

The No. 1 USC men’s volleyball team is priming themselves for another busy weekend. No. 15 UC San Diego and No. 7 UC Irvine are slated to be played Friday and Saturday, the second set of back-to-back matches in the last two weeks.

Last weekend, the Trojans (12-1, 12-1) took down No. 2 BYU in consecutive five-set matches with scores of 25-21, 17-25, 25-17, 21-25, 15-12 and 25-18, 23-25, 25-,16, 22-25, 15-10.

USC volleyball legends Dusty Dvorak and Celso Kalache were retired after Saturday’s match. The ceremony as well as the hype of the No. 1 versus No. 2 showdown produced the largest crowd in recent memory, with Saturday’s support squad amassing 3,000 fans.

“This was huge from the program and especially big for the seniors,” said senior setter Riley McKibbin. “We really appreciate the fan support. It’s the best I’ve seen in my four years.”

Senior opposite Murphy Troy led the team in kills for both matches, with 22 kills earned at a .526 clip and 18 kills at a .438 clip in the first and second matches respectively.

Troy was honored as the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Player of the Week, the third time this season and the seventh in his career. Troy also recorded his 125^th service ace in the past weekend, a new USC rally scoring era record.

“I’m nowhere close to being up there yet, there’s so many greats in our schools history,” Troy said. “Hopefully my career won’t be complete any time soon.”

In the victories, USC exhibited the ability to rally from behind and put a team away.

“We showed a lot of heart and character,” said USC coach Bill Ferguson. “We keep growing in the face of adversity. In the fifth set on Saturday, we had four stuff blocks. It was huge.”

USC out-blocked BYU 12.5-7 and 13-6 respectively.

Looking to this weekend, the Trojans will face a team that they previously swept in UC San Diego as well as a UC Irvine team they previously defeated.

But USC is not expecting an easy pair of wins.

UC San Diego has the ability to employ both a 5-1 offense with one setter as well as a 6-2 offense, with two setters.

Senior setter Phil Bannan ranks second in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in service aces, one spot ahead of Troy.

“If they can pass and use [6’9” senior middle blocker] Calvin Ross, things could get difficult,” Ferguson said.

UC Irvine has won five of its last six matches and has made drastic changes since the January match, including putting senior setter Anthony Spittle at the controls in place of freshman Daniel Stork. Two-time All-American outside hitter Jordan DuFault has returned as well as starting libero Will Montgomery.

“They play a lot faster with Spittle,” Ferguson said. “We saw a little bit of the quick sets to the outside with BYU’s Taylor Sander, so we got to preface this match a bit.”

Along with the All-American DuFault, the Anteaters feature junior opposite Carson Clark and senior outside hitter Cory Yoder. Clark ranks second in the MPSF in kills and is a two-time All-American.

“DuFault, Yoder, and Clark against Murphy, Tony [Ciarelli], and Tri [Bourne] is the best collection of outside attackers in the country,” Ferguson said. “It’ll be a tough one.”

When asked about the development of the team, McKibbin believes their mindset has played a huge role in their play.

“We haven’t had much personnel change since last year, but there is definitely a difference in how we’re approaching this entire season,” he said. “We’re enjoying the ride, and that’ll lead to our ultimate success.”