Volleyball hits the road as lineup questions linger


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This weekend the men’s volleyball team have a pair of matches on the road, first on Friday at No. 11 UC Irvine and then on Saturday at UC San Diego.

It’s fair to say that neither the Trojans’ nor the Anteaters’ seasons have begun as expected. Before MPSF play, USC (1-7, 1-5 MPSF) was ranked 12th in the nation, and UC Irvine (2-6, 1-5) fourth. Yet on Friday, the two teams are facing off to avoid the bottom of the league and perhaps keep playoff hopes alive.

Friday night’s matchup at the Bren Center means a great deal for the Trojan’s playoff push.

The season is still young. In fact, USC is still trying to figure out its starting lineup.

“Every game, we always get some adjustments here or there,” sophomore opposite Jon Rivera said. “I don’t think we’ve played a game where we’ve stuck with the same lineup.”

Many of the inconsistencies in the Trojans’ lineup can be chalked up to injuries.

At the setter position, junior Michael Mullahey remains sidelined with a knee injury, while Lewis University-transfer sophomore Gert Lisha has played only one match since recovering from a hand injury. For now, Lisha and fellow sophomore Jack Yoder are competing for the job.

“I expect [Lisha] to compete for the role,” head coach Jeff Nygaard said. “Just like anyone else, I don’t believe in just giving it to a person because that doesn’t teach them anything about being a good volleyball player.”

Lisha brings much experience to the court. Last year, he appeared in 26 matches for a Lewis team that lost in the NCAA finals. In 2013, he played internationally with his native Albania.

At outside hitter, the Trojans are bouncing between juniors Christopher Orenic and Lucas Yoder.

The 2016 position seems to remain up for grabs, as they both have sputtered out of the gates. Orenic is hitting .143, and Lucas Yoder is not much better at .191.

At opposite, at least, it seems that the Trojans have found a rising star. Jon Rivera has started every game this year and last week had a career-high 23 kills versus Pepperdine, which he followed up with a strong 13-kill, five-dig performance against Stanford.

The Men of Troy have been one of the worst blocking teams in the MPSF this year totaling 55.0 blocks while allowing 101.0 to opponents.

Whereas the Trojans’ poor start can be traced to injury and youth, the Anteaters returned five starters from last year’s MPSF Tournament-winning team — Tamir Hershko, Kyle Russell, Jason Agopian, Andrew Benz and Michael Saeta.

Two of those veterans, senior middle blocker Jason Agopian and junior opposite Tamir Hershko, made the 2015 First-Team All-MPSF.

This year, the two continue to put up staggering numbers, which makes UC Irvine’s slow start all the more perplexing. Hershko leads the team with 4.07 kills/set and hits .302, and Agopian tags on an additional 1.81 kills/set with a .436 hitting percentage.

On Saturday, the Trojans take on a UC San Diego (3-7, 0-4) team that has not won in MPSF play since 2014 when it went 2-22. Junior outside hitter Ian Colbert recorded back-to-back double-doubles for the Tritons last week and then in a third match versus No. 5 Hawaii matched a career-high 19 kills.

Aside from Colbert’s individual performance last week, the Tritons have attacked poorly. As a team, they are hitting .198 for the season. Sophomore opposite Tanner Syftestad, who is second on the team with 65 kills, has also committed 45 errors and is hitting .112.