Men’s volleyball will host No. 7 BYU
The No. 2 Trojans (8-1, 7-1 MPSF) might have dropped their first loss of the season to No. 6 Hawai’i (7-3, 4-2 MPSF), but that didn’t faze them; they came right back and beat Hawai’i the following match two days later.
To beat Hawai’i is an amazing feat; to beat them in five sets after losing in five sets is ten times as difficult. Considering the Trojans did that last week, this team has the resilience to have deep success this season. Yes, it would be wonderful if they were still undefeated, but the loss helped them in a way. The loss kept the team grounded and focused on the “moment to moment” of each match.
In the first set, the Trojans took a 2-0 (26-28, 23-25) lead over the Rainbow Warriors, but after the break, the Warriors charged back and took the following three sets to win the match (25-23, 25-17, 20-18). Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Christopher Orenic and junior opposite Josh Kirchner both had career-high nights with 24 kills and 19 kills, respectively.
In the second set, the Trojans were looking for redemption. After winning the first set 30-28, they lost the next two (17-25, 18-25). The momentum seemed to be in Hawai’i’s favor, but the Trojans pulled out a win in the fourth set 25-18. Arguably the most intense set of the trip was the fifth set. The Rainbow Warriors held the lead for the entirety of the set to 13-10, but with two points away from losing their second match of the season, the Trojans consecutively scored four points to make it 14-13. USC served six match points until junior outside hitter Alex Slaught smashed a huge kill for the win (20-18). Orenic once again dominated at the nets with 17 kills.
Head coach Bill Ferguson shared that in the first match against Hawai’i the team “battled, but didn’t quite pull it off.” With regard to the following match, Ferguson was beyond pleased with how the team “bounced back really nicely.”
“We never really had them handled or contained until the last couple points,” Ferguson said about the final set of the second match.
Senior setter Micah Christenson continues to rule from the back line. In the two matches against Hawai’i, Christenson recorded two aces in the first match and five in the second. He is ranked second in aces per set both nationally and in the MPSF. The team more or less revolves around its senior co-captain. He runs a dominant offense and is ranked sixth nationally for assists and second in the MPSF averaging 10.75 assists per set.
After playing their most intense volleyball game of the season so far, the Trojans come back home to the Galen Center to face No. 7 BYU (8-2, 7-1) and look to remain undefeated at home.
The two home matches for the Trojans could determine who takes possession of first place in the MPSF standings. USC and BYU are currently tied for first in the standings with identical 7-1 conference records. BYU’s one conference loss was to UC Santa Barbara, which the Trojans haven’t played yet this season. BYU has also not yet played Hawai’i.
Last year, the Trojans were eliminated by BYU, the regular season winner of the conference, in the first round of the MPSF tournament. The Trojans finished 14-10 in the conference last year, grabbing the last spot in the MPSF tournament, while BYU was the first seed. BYU went on to win the conference tournament, earning an automatic spot in the NCAA tournament.
Ferguson noted that this year’s BYU team has many different weapons, much like his own team. He also said that BYU has two players above 6 feet 10 inches on its roster and that the height should present a good challenge.
“They do everything, they’re actually similar to us,” Ferguson said in his weekly recap. “BYU’s always a sound volleyball team. They’re going to serve and pass well, they’re going to block and hit great. It’s definitely going to be a battle, but it’s going to be a chess match to see who’s actually going to be on the floor.”
The Trojans and BYU will play Feb. 12 and Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. at the Galen Center.